#5-Art Word of the Week: Perception

This week’s art word does not come from the list I had previously been choosing from, since I did not feel Donnie Darko really applied well enough to any of them. Our perception is our capability to take in sensory information and attempt to make sense of it by relating it to what we already know (Shirrmacher & Fox, 2009, p. 173).  The movie Donnie Darko demonstrates a young man’s struggle to maintain a balance between what he perceives and what is reality.

Out of the five choices, Donnie Darko was the only movie that I recognized, besides Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.  Like many other people that have watched this film before me, I too found it to be quite creepy, especially the bunny rabbit named Frank.  As sinister as this “friend” was, it was slightly comical when you realized this extremely disturbing creature was portrayed as a bunny. The portals that Donnie sees are pretty weird, but they’re an interesting special effect.  I’d say I was creeped out the most when Donnie was tapping the knife against whatever he was seeing...his face looked almost manic at that point.  Donnie’s struggle to maintain his sense of reality is profound.  His struggle shows just how much of an influence his sense of perception has on his daily life.

Nevertheless, this film is...interesting to say the least. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t understand this movie in the slightest bit. I’m glad that I was not the only one of my friends that found this movie to be confusing and difficult to follow. I was unable to connect my visual perception of what was happening in the movie to what I believe makes sense in the real world.  Perhaps that is the point of a movie such as Donnie Darko...you’re not suppose to understand it the first time you watch it, or even if you watch it more times after that. I’m definitely one of those people that will more than likely never fully understand it...but that’s okay with me. There are plenty of other movies out there that are more appealing to my sense of artistry.

EDUCATORS
This blog post helped me realize that really any film can be considered art, since the actors, directors and producers are using the big screen as a canvas to convey their ideas.  As a future educator, I will ensure that children are presented with the idea that media, more specifically film, is an excellent avenue to express their artistic thoughts.  In a classroom, if we were to be exploring film, I would allow them the freedom to investigate films that they personally feel are artistic.

Schirrmacher, R., & Fox, J.E. (2009). Art and creative development for young children (6^th Ed.).  

       Belmont, CA: Delmar.