Romanticism Still the same today or different?

When you google romanticism they define it as a movement in the arts and literature that originated in the late 18th century, emphasizing inspiration, subjectivity, and the primary of the individual. Romanticism has influenced history because it was a major international movement that helped influence and shape modern views of literature, music, as well as art. Romanticism has definitely changed over time, romanticism in the 1800s is not the same as it is today.

One thing I would like to particularly focus on is the change of art over the years. In the 1800s, romanticism was popular within art. Romanticism in the form of art was mostly paintings. The inspirations of paintings came from nature around them. Besides nature, they also received their inspiration from the bible, mythological, as well as supernatural subjects. Besides focusing on these subjects, romantic artist used radiant vibrant colors and enjoyed playing with shapes and curving lines.

Today, romantic artist our still relevant and creating more in depth pieces of art. Today's artist are able to use more inspirations around them. With this inspiration they can create more diverse in depth pieces using of art using different forms of brushing techniques and different shapes.

I truly do believe that romanticism is still alive today. I believe that the basic principles of romanticism have been lost but it is definitely still alive and in full effect today.

Godzilla

Recently while scrolling through the channels I stumbled across an old movie, a classic in some peoples eyes. This movie, Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1954), details how Steve Martin and a group of scientists are able to stop Godzilla from destroying Japan and show Godzilla's eventual death. I only watched about half an hour of the movie, but in these thirty minutes, two things dawned on me. The striking racial stereotypes of the Japanese people, and that I had forgotten to do my orientalism blog post. Now, to kill two birds with one stone, I will explain several of the racist depictions I viewed in.... Godzilla, King of the Monsters.

Throughout my half hour viewing experience, the most prominent example of orientalism was the depiction of everyday life. Every single Japanese person, excluding the scientist, was dressed as a farmer. With the large circular hat, shovels, and an overall dirty appearance. In one scene, the Japanese people plan an attack on Godzilla to scare him away. To no surprise, many of the people came out dressed like samurai, wielding katanas. This depiction of so-called everyday Japanese life perpetuates the stereotype that the Japanese people are all katana-wielding, samurai-dressed farmers. The doctors and scientists seen throughout the movie all appeared to be much more sophisticated than the common. They were seen running around battle scenes with white lab coats, and directing the people around. This, as well as the samurai scenario, are continuing examples of orientalism.

Exposure

Middle Eastern and Asian culture, much like other cultures that we aren't naturally exposed to, are taught to us in the most basic and stereotypical ways through the media and brief interactions that we might have. Seldom do we immerse ourselves in the lifestyles and cultures of people different than us, so we take the easy information, rather than seeking legitimate and intelligent information. Edward Said says this in his description of the term Orientalism. Orientalism is Western Cultures prejudice interpretation of the East. 

One of the many ways that we find ourselves educated on Asian and Middle Eastern cultures are through movies. A large part of the problem is that as people without exposure to real Eastern culture, and especially young people, movies that offer some sort of an explanation through entertainment often leave a deeper message. So when a young person is watching Aladdin, for example, it becomes more than just entertainment because it's often their only exposure, and they minds are so impressionable. By creating a place in Aladdin or in other movies like Mulan or Doctor Strange that is mystical, and in some cases barbaric, it becomes the only image that people have for the Eastern world at all.

What's even worse, is that this is not something as Westerners that we do exclusively to people who are halfway around the world. We are exposed to a limited and unfair interpretations of the culture and lives of different people who live in our country, states, and even communities. Our worlds are limited by the labels that we have associated with us because of our physical characteristics. These limitations then prevent us from reaching out and exploring the differences between us all, and keep us bound to the appearances that people can see from the outside. It's something that we do not do just along Western and Eastern culture, but race, class, gender, sexuality, and religion in our own neighborhoods.