Lessons From Dogville

Future Articulation

There will be no session tonight! Next week we will continue the explorations. https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIkfuGprj0iH9b5iYwauGP7_5RPR4LyOqy-

—

When Dogville came out, i watched it four times in a row on consecutive nights. I have never done that with any other movie since (or before). Apart from the interesting approach to movie making - which really triggered a nice little breeze among my neurons - what really triggered me was that i had no clue what the film was trying to say.

It took years to work through my subconscious pathways to appear as a thinkable thought and even then i had a hard time accepting it at first. The basic message was that the most arrogant notion is to assume that other people cannot live up to your own standards. In a strange twist, this turns the position of being "understanding" towards another person into the ultimate arrogance.

What happens if people become "understanding" and "accepting" of themselves? What happens if you look at yourself from the position from an arrogant know-it-all and say: well, you don't know better, that's just how you are. - By saying this, you have already admitted that you know better, that you know what to do in order to change. You're being arrogant towards the capabilities and capacities of your future self.

Let us not be understanding of the status quo, let us not be understanding of the lack of potential to integrate complexity in other people (or whatever else bothers you). Let us demand the growth we know is possible. Let us demand the growth we know is needed to build a world that gives rise to a future we can be proud of.

Photo by Paula Schmidt from Pexels