Not sure if that's the best title for this column, but I like it. Have you ever noticed how your taste in music or movies changes over time? Mine has become more and more apparent, especially in music.
Sound Sense. My music tastes have changed dramatically. When I first got into music, I was into a lot of the '80s metal bands like Def Leppard, Poison, Warrant, and Dokken. I thought it was great and it was pretty much all I would listen to. Then I reached a point where I rebelled against that, thought it was all terrible and I moved into the next popular phase, grunge, featuring Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Alice in Chains, not to mention all of the imitators. This was the time when my music tastes started to expand. I started listening to more heavy stuff like Metallica, Slayer, and newcomers like Fear Factory, and Pantera. I always liked those bands, but around this time they came more to the forefront.
Over the past few years, my preferences have been moving away from what you hear on the radio, I actually avoid the radio whenever I can now. Now I have been moving backwards, listening to artists that I never would have listened to when I was younger. My main likes still live in the realm of heavy metal, but my listening palate has vastly expanded. Examples of this would be a couple of more recent "discoveries", David Bowie and Warren Zevon. Their music is some of the most incredible stuff I have ever heard. It is a strange feeling to see oneself moving away from the pop charts. I never thought I would see the day where I didn't like a large amount of the currently popular music. I don't look on this as a bad thing, but the exact opposite. I have learned from this, and have become a more open minded listener now, years ago I would have ruled out a lot of these artists just for not being like the other styles I listened to. That is a terrible way to listen to music.
Screen Sense. My movie preferences have always been a little bit different. I never really ruled out any film, but lately I have been more willing to seek out different types of movies. My collection contains something from any genre you can possibly think of. It really started when I worked at a video store. We had free rentals, so I would pretty much grab the first thing that looked interesting, for better or worse. Being able to do that opened me up to a lot of movies that ordinarily would have gotten passed over. My collection ranges from current hits like Pirates of the Caribbean to family films like Finding Nemo, to horror films like The Evil Dead, to classics like Citizen Kane and silents like Metropolis, even to one of my big loves world cinema, especially Asian, but I have movies from all over the world (Japan, China, Thailand, Germany, Italy, Spain, Mexico).
Basically, all I am really trying to say here is that you should be open for the occasional oddball movie or a band from a different genre, you may just find something incredible. I'm not suggesting that you buy or rent anything, but also keep your eyes open for something that seems interesting and don't hesitate to give it a shot. Everything was made for a reason, and every movie and artist has a fan. Good or bad, everything is worth seeing at least once, because without that one time you can never be sure if it was good. Never take a critic's word for it, all they can offer is an opinion, which you may not share. You'll never know until you give it a chance. Having said that, you may question why you read this blog, or any critic's reviews. Don't do that, critics are good at what they do and what they do is to create a discussion about a movie or cd, or whatever they happen to be reviewing. The only thing they have over you or me is more experience, but it doesn't make them right. That is one of the main things I want to accomplish here, to expose anyone who may pass by here to my thoughts and views, if you agree, great, if not, I respect your opinion. The thing to remember is not to create an opinion in your mind before experiencing it. I may go in with preconceptions, but I always look for something positive in it, even if I discuss a lot of the bad sides.
Wow! That kind of took on a life of it's own! Well I hope that made some sense to you, I think my focus was split and any coherence may be have been lost. Anyway I may revisit this topic again down the line. Until next time.
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