This was the first time I saw graffiti writing as a culture in a way. Graffiti has a history and a community. It's more than just a hobby for some people it's a way of life. Putting a face to writers helped me to understand why people do this. I could see the passion in the kid's eyes as they talked about their art. It hurts me that there are people in roles of authority trying to take away something these people love. If law enforcement and politicians took the time to realize just how deep writing is for some people and what it means to them, perhaps they would end this stupid war. For me personally it would be like if writing stories was illegal. It's a ridiculous idea but is basically what's happening.
The most interesting part of the film was listening to the very different point if views. One writer's mother called what he was doing stupid. That relates to our previous discussion on lenses. People's opinion are shaped by their experiences. Without an open mind it's hard to see things differently. It crazy to me how strongly people oppose graffiti. To all the cops I say go catch a real criminal like a murder. It almost seems like that's too hard so instead you go after writers. To all normal people who find graffiti disgusting, get over it. Graffiti is not going anywhere.
There are a couple ideas you bring up in this response to style wars that tie together really nicely. The idea of graffiti as a culture and a community is one that I think greatly impacts people's closed-minded resistance. It almost seems the resistance is to this unfamiliar culture developing rather than the graffiti itself. I think if the street art were to display images that society was used to seeing, resistance might ease. It's unfortunate that we are so prone to seeing things through our own lens and how drastically this impacts our view of the world.
ReplyDeleteI like recalling our discussion of lenses here. But don't people who defend graffiti also see it through particular lenses? Should they also open their minds to the possibility that graffiti can be destructive?
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