"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it."
Confucius
It’s a shame to say that I
enrolled in a class that I had no clue about. But during the introduction it
made more sense to me what kind of class I was in. The way I understood it,
ASTETA is like philosophy, it talks about beauty and how people see it in
different ways. A person may look at a painting and may see no sense in it, but
another person observing it may be drawn to its beauty. It really depends on the
different perspective of beauty each person has.
What broadened my knowledge on this subject is the film that
was presented to us “Pleasantville.” It captured what people thought of as “the
perfect world” where nothing goes wrong. It presented a closely knit family
with very strict values, and towns’ people who are kind to one another. This
was very different from the world we live on in the present. Today families are
usually broken, jobs weren’t done if people didn’t feel like it, and sex meant
nothing special to the youth and a lot more. This was the world where David and
Jennifer lived in. This is the reason why they were in awe when they were
magically transported to Pleasantville. If I were in their shoes I would feel
the same way. I leave the house without eating anything but a granola bar,
every teenager usually does but in their world kids get stuffed with real food
before getting to school. This is because they have all the time in the world
and nothing can go wrong, not like in this world. Soon many people were
becoming colored and many of the town fathers did not want this to continue
spreading out. Even if David and Jennifer wanted to “break” the rules in
Pleasantville, they had to stop themselves from doing so. They had to go with
the flow of the episode, they had to play the part of Bud and Mary sue. This
was much easier for David because he loves the show, but his sexually active
sister thought that playing the role of a conservative teenage girl was not a
role she could play. Jennifer tried, but she ended up changing the ways in
Pleasantville. And during that night when the guy was going home, he saw a red
color in the bushes. This was the first sign of Pleasantville changing. As soon
as time passed, a lot of teenagers lost the value of purity. Any person who
changed their ways or had a burst of emotion noticed a hint of color appearing
on them. They went to see doctors because this was not a normal thing for them.
They were so used to their world of black, white, and grey.
Betty Parker was one of my
favorite characters. At first she didn’t like the fact that she has turned into
a colored person. Betty parker couldn’t show herself to her husband, she was so
ashamed of the person she has become. She started to think that she was ugly
because she didn’t fit in like she used to. With the help of David they were
able to conceal her true color but it wasn’t long when Mr. Johnson made her
realize that she didn’t have to conceal her true color, because she was
beautiful the way she was. Mr. Johnson found so much beauty in colors because
of the book david presented to him. It showcased a number of modern art
paintings. That’s when his perspective of beauty totally changed. At first the citizens of Pleasantville detested their self for being colored but with this change they were able to discover the beauty in being colored.
It’s not easy to agree with what
everyone thinks, especially when it comes to beauty. It cannot be
scientifically proven that one thing is much beautiful than the other. We just
all have to accept that everyone will not have the same taste as us. Through
history many architects have disagreed with each other when it comes to the style
of a structure. An example of this may be during the gothic period. Many people
found it beautiful because the churches were made to be very high with a lot of
sculptures and details but many critiques were not so proud of these
structures.
I am a big fan of modern
architecture. I find beauty in simplicity. I like how the glass can serve as a
window and an aesthetic feature as well.
I also like the way modern houses are shaped, using simple geometric
shapes like a cube. If ever I become an architect I would like to design
structures this way but I will also encounter clients who may not see the
beauty of these buildings. Even if I disagree with what they think of as
beautiful, I should accept their criticism and try to work with them because
it’s the way they want their house or building to look. I think the role of an
architect is to help the client visualize what they want their structure to
look like and give them an opinion on how to make it look better. As Confucius said
“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”
