It’s obvious that we can be compelled in a variety of ways: photography, video, interior design architecture. But, the common variable in all of these mediums is one thing: emotion. No matter how one is compelled, the end result is always some sort of emotion, ranging from sadness to hatred to love. And, have we not all felt these emotions previous to this specific compelling experience? Isn’t the end result of configuring these compelling experiences always the same? How can it be unique if has been done/felt before? And along these same lines, has the same experience not already have been created? Are we not mimicking similar experiences that we’ve had? Our goal is to elicit these same feelings, just from a different method? In one of my creative writing classes, I had to read a book by Stephen King that reiterated the fact that everything has already been written. Every character, every storyline, and every emotion to be elicited—they have been written before. We may rearrange these elements and repackage them, but in the end, it has been done before. The guttural emotion that is the end result of our work has been done before…it has been felt before. I’m not sure how this translates into creating compelling experiences, but I am reminded of this fact constantly in this course. Obviously, whatever I am trying to create has been done before. In fact, when I do create something, it is based off something that has compelled me in the way I want my audience to be compelled. When we take pictures, we arrange them in a sense that we have seen before, where that arrangement worked and moved us. It’s the same with video and especially design…we work at it, but are always modeling the effective work of others. If I think about this too long, I see how this same principle applies in all areas of my life.
Also, along these same lines of insane questions, can we truly create a similar experience so that our audience can empathize, rather than sympathize with the predicament presented? Is not their emotion based on experiences they have had? If I show a picture of an animal, is not that person’s personal experiences—or lack there off—with that animal indicative of the emotion they will or will not experience? What is compelling to one person or group of people may not be as compelling to another. For example, I can show a movie of sweet, innocent deer grazing in a field and while one person may be experiencing a cut, cuddly feeling, the next person may very well be getting excited and twitching his trigger finger. How can we truly gage the effectiveness of a compelling experience?
Before I had a child, I was always moved by stories involving kids or a mother’s pictures, stories, videos, etc. it was cute…but now…I am compelled. In any and every area involving children (especially mine). I cry like a baby in movies where my emotions tie back to my son. I never would have cried like that before being a mother. The same can be applied to when I got married. My emotions have evolved to suit my life. However, if you are not in a similar situation, you will not feel the same, you will not be compelled along the lines that I am. So, how can we judge the compelling factor of a work without a broader range of audience?
One more—I have had several students tell me that the movie Johnny Darko changed their lives, was the best movie ever. I figured a movie that important had to be good right? WRONG! I felt that was the worst movie ever, a complete waste of my time. However, I still get students remarking on how moved they were by that movie. I DON”T GET IT! And I tried…I really, really tried. I find NOTHING compelling in that movie. But…thousands of people do. So, even though I was not moved by this movie, how can we say it is not compelling when many, many others will argue that it is?
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