You are what you...

Intake?
I had an interesting discussion with a peer the other day who introduced what she said was an Asian theological belief/practice that essentially claims: don't take it in if it's forbidden. (I am not doing it justice, so I will elaborate.)

That is to say, as per her interpretation, if it's not good for you, ie forbidden (by you, not by some rule or legislation), then don't watch it. This was part of a discussion of extremely disturbing films (like the Saw series and that Nicholas Cage snuff porn movie). The same would hold true of bad music, the kind that chants or raps things you would never engage in but nonetheless absorb through music, perhaps.

The thinking is that whatever you are exposed to becomes part of you. Somewhere in your subconscious mind you are unable to discern truth from image, reality from (even the most loose interpretation of) art. Even if you do know it's not actually been said/done, it's a level of depravity and sinister glup you don't want in your head.

Hmmm...I don't know what to think about that.

The conversation went on to uphold the lifestyle and media of the pre-industrial revolution era. Then, of course, it was more work to intake anything artistic. One had to read, and at night, by candlelight. One had no radio, television, movie theatre, Internet... If you wanted bawdy, you had to travel to the red light district or a circus, I suppose. If you wanted violence, you had to pick it yourself or watch a barroom brawl. People were assumed to be, in general populations, more pure of mind and heart. One rationale for that assumption was: lack of exposure.

If this maxim is truth, then my kids are doomed. They have, in their young years, seen more violence and stupidity than I have in a life 7x as long as theirs. If it is truth, then I must be spoiled in all manner of writing, due to the poor writing I've graded over 20 years. I must not really know beautiful scenery since I spent too much time in western Kansas. (I know, I'm kidding. I'm stretching this exposure = evil thing too far.)

Regardless, it is an engaging thought. Are we so simple, underneath it all, that we really do not discern at some level? Does that make us numb to wrong, to pain, to the despicable things we've witnessed in movies and art? I hope to revisit this again some time and continue the thought process.