Art Speak

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Mona Lisa Replica
(Getty Images)

One of the most fascinating genres in the world is art. When I say art, I’m talking about it from the broadest vantage point. I’m talking about all art such as movies, music, TV shows, paintings and sculptures, dance, written works, photography, and the several other sub-compartments that are included within art. I’m referring to all of it.

I say it’s fascinating because a person’s appreciation of it can vary immensely. I was looking up a new movie that just came out, reading reviews for it. Mind you, I am not one who decides to see a movie based on reviews. But it’s just fun to read what other everyday people have to say who aren’t professional critics. I usually will read a professional critic’s review after I’ve seen a movie, read a book, heard an album, or saw an art exhibit. But I also like reading the thoughts of laypeople as well.

Anyway, for this particular movie, most people raved about it. Approximately every third or fifth person disliked it. People ranked it up to five stars and left comments. Reading everyone’s comments, I can’t help but wonder if they saw the same movie. It’s odd to me that one person can love something and someone else can hate it. But then, that’s what makes art so fascinating. When it comes to art, beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

I sometimes face backlash when I express that I don’t see the big deal about the world famous painting, Mona Lisa. I have yet to see it in person. I have seen many virtual displays of it as well as replicas. Mona Lisa has been adored for centuries; it is the most expensive painting in the world. It holds the Guinness Book of Records for the highest-known painting insurance valuation in history, equivalent to $1 billion as of 2023. She doesn’t thrill me. But that’s okay. There are some works of art I like that others may not appreciate. It’s our individual differences that make the world such a rich place. Wouldn’t it be mighty doggone boring if we all were just alike and liked the same things? That’s why I think I wouldn’t like hanging out with beings from other planets. They’re always depicted as clones of one another; they look, dress, and talk alike. I prefer to stand out.

We all are a work of art in our own way. Embrace that.