Mistrusting Creativity: Currents in Orhan Pamuk’s My Name is Red
Why do some people mistrust creativity, while others feel it leads them to deeper faith? Is creativity inseparable from identity? To God belongs the East and the West. –- The Koran …
Glimpses through the Ocean Fog: Selkie, A Sea Tale
How can we allow the arts to reveal deeper understanding? By releasing the desire to evaluate and cultivating enchantment. Over the holiday weekend I attended Divergence Vocal Theater’s CD release …
Playful Depths: I’m a Cyborg, but That’s OK
Are humor and honesty effective in dealing with death and mental illness? Are we held back by propriety and clichés? When the white coats take away Young-Goon’s grandmother, who believes …
Startled by a Flock of Birds: Houston Ballet’s Murmuration
Sometimes we are stunned into silence or provoked into outbursts by an image or a sound. Why does this happen? This weekend I was excited to attend the Houston Ballet’s …
Modifying Tradition: Tian-Ming Wu’s King of Masks
We all have traditions. Sometimes the reason traditions fail to thrive is because we don’t allow them to change. Tian-Ming Wu’s film King of Masks takes us to the China …
Crossing Opera and Mariachi Yields a Rare Flower: Cruzar la Cara de la Luna
José “Pepe” Mártinez and Leonard Foglia’s Cruzar la Cara de la Luna, To Cross the Face of the Moon, weaves an emotional and profound story of a family divided by the US …
The Absent Clock: Stephen King’s and Stanley Kubrick’s Versions of The Shining
The Shining contains themes of abuse, addiction, insanity and manipulative evil. What actually makes this story tick in the imagination? I grew up watching horror movies on my father’s knee. …
Visible and Invisible Chains: Toni Morrison’s Beloved
How do people survive horrible experiences? In Beloved, Toni Morrison gives an illustration of resilience and how fragile it is. When good hearted Paul D. appears on Sethe’s porch one day in …
Creating New Worlds: Frank Herbert’s Dune
The power in sci-fi and fantasy lies in the creation of new worlds. Why do these worlds capture the imagination? Greatness is a transitory experience. It is never consistent. It …
A Fable Timeless and Timely: Su Yang’s Phoenix
Do fables have something to contribute to the modern world? What do they show us about our society and ourselves? The Cultural Revolution took place in China from 1966 through 1976 …