Thinking for Myself

I enjoyed our reading about Ophelia Syndrome. I think it is a very important issue to consider as a student, but also as anybody. People are always telling us how to think, whether it be straight to our faces or through some form of media, and it's very important to be able to take all of this in, consider it, debate it, and then think for ourselves. I agree with Plummer that a lot of college classes can be dangerous in this way, especially classes that just tell you things and expect you to learn and memorize them. A nice thing about college however is that you have many teachers, each of which will have slightly different ideas and perspectives of different topics. So in this way, you are able to see some things from different angles, and it helps you to think for yourself. I am glad to be in the film program because it is focused more on the creativity and the art than it is on learning and repeating "facts". Of course, there is a technical side that must be learned, but for the most part, I feel like my film teachers have simply tried to teach me to be opened minded, to seek multiple fountains of education, and to be creative with what I create. I actually feel that college has opened my mind much more than it has told me what to believe. Many of ways I now see the world are completely different than how I would have seen it a couple of years ago.

Besides coming to college. I have recently started reading a lot more on my own account, and I have found that the more I read, the more perspectives and ideas I take in, and the more I see how other people see the world. The more I am able to see the world through other people's eyes in this manner, the more I realize that most people seem to be "right". In their own way. Of course, nobody is right in everything they do, and like this article says, I shouldn't allow myself to simply believe everything I hear, but seeing the world in the way others do, helps me to see the reasons why people do what they do.

Something great about my field study project is that I will get to see many different viewpoints while making my film. I will see things through the eyes of Tibetans as well as Indians, some of which may have a great relationship to the other, and some may not. I'm sure I will hear many different things from different people, and my job, when editing the film will be how to sort all of those different ideas out and combine them with my own. It will be a challenge to try not to take sides and remained unbiased, but I will also need to think and judge for myself what is the best way to make the film and to present it to others... It's a lot to think about.