The skin I live in. It has several scars - chicken pox, surgeries. It has a lot of freckles (Thanks for pointing them out and thus prompting me to wear sunscreen every day, R!). It's oily and dry at the same time, and as much as I take in from the world around me, I know I leave a small part of me everywhere I go, solely in dead skin cells...That's a bit icky to think about, actually.
But there's more to me than just my skin, and as integral as it is to my being, it isn't even my strongest defense against the world around me. Our skin may serve as a physical barrier against so many maladies of nature, but the soul often requires a different fortress, one far stronger and more flexible than the largest organ of the body.
And I think that that is what Pedro Almodóvar's newest film is about. Creepy? Yes. Disturbing? Definitely. (Beautifully shot and structured so that each image leaves you anticipating that he wouldn't possibly dare to do that...OH MY GOSH HE TOTALLY DID THAT!!!!!) But in the end it all boils down to how we define ourselves as individuals in this world, and how we assure that our own image is what the world sees when it tries to foist something else on us.
There is no such thing as simplicity in this lifetime, and we would do well to remember that that lesson applies most especially to those people who make up our world.
But there's more to me than just my skin, and as integral as it is to my being, it isn't even my strongest defense against the world around me. Our skin may serve as a physical barrier against so many maladies of nature, but the soul often requires a different fortress, one far stronger and more flexible than the largest organ of the body.
And I think that that is what Pedro Almodóvar's newest film is about. Creepy? Yes. Disturbing? Definitely. (Beautifully shot and structured so that each image leaves you anticipating that he wouldn't possibly dare to do that...OH MY GOSH HE TOTALLY DID THAT!!!!!) But in the end it all boils down to how we define ourselves as individuals in this world, and how we assure that our own image is what the world sees when it tries to foist something else on us.
There is no such thing as simplicity in this lifetime, and we would do well to remember that that lesson applies most especially to those people who make up our world.
I am not smart enough to have a daughter who writes this kind of blog! While I am writing about Willie the Wildcat, she is writing about defining ourselves in the world. I don't think I would like Pedro A's movies!!!
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