See the result (No Imagination required)

With all the pressure of the family eating in forced silence and the still anticipated punishment from my father, the presence was less like a large person breathing down our neck, and hovering at the edge of our vision. It was more like an enormous person squeezing into that undersized seat on the airplane next to you as you prepare for an 18hr flight across the Pacific Ocean.  Overbearing, engulfing your armrest, shading you in your seat (even if you have the window seat) and, while not able to be addressed over the issue directly, everyone is very aware of the discomfit felt.

The food was placed on the table and with muted, ‘could you please pass the salt’, or the potatoes or such. Nobody wanted to say anything. Everyone was worried about our younger brother. We had not heard anything since our parents had left for the hospital. Each of us had our own impressions of what we had last seen and being young minds with vivid imaginations, we had probably each imagined it was worse than it may have been. I know I had. I had honestly believed that I had killed him. And even when carrying him home streaming blood from his injury, I did not think he was going to make it. We ad imagined so much

That was how it used to be. Our imagination was put to good use. We would read books (we had that advantage over many of the children of today) and had to create from the words, the very content and structure, the shapes and colours of what we were reading. We had to comprehend the actual emotions. We needed to read a wider variety of subject matter to understand what was being discussed and considered. It required awareness of history and a general knowledge of the world, the countries and customs. Knowledge of the sciences, and the arts. It was important to be well informed to appreciate the individual nuances of any piece we were reading. The more we read the more we needed to read. And given the education that already existed in our house, with the sharing of knowledge between siblings, and access to information above what would be normal for our years, we acquired a sound understanding of the world.

This is particularly obvious in observing the difference with visuals used in films of today, compared to the films of the past. If you have ever truly watched some early thriller movies such as Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ and then observed a modern version thriller. They (the film directors and producers) no longer leave it to the imagination. The modern visuals seem to insist on showing the actual knife/sickle/sword/trident, slicing into the victim. Often in slow motion for effect, but consequently sacrificing the vividness of the ‘concept’ by showing exactly how it looks. Rather than the ‘terror’ of the ‘imagined’ effect. This is one of the biggest disappointments in such films for me today. Wasting of my imagination.

 (Continued tomorrow)