Obladi - Identification Please

This weeks Obladi post asks about how our ideas, opinions, etc have changed as we grow older.

I heard an interview on NPR where the person talked about watching plays he had loved since he was a young man. He said that the first time he watched "Death of a Salesman" he identified with the son, Buddy, but now he was Willy Loman.

As well as which character I identify with in a novel, my perspective has changed on other things too. Movies and books that I thought were incredibly wonderful when I was younger, now seem to be... well... somewhere between wretched and stupid.

As you've gotten older, has your perspective changed on media you watch, hear or read?

This is something my husband and I discuss from time to time. How a movie we thought was so earth shattering when younger, seems a bit stupid now. I kept telling how wonderful the movie Soldier Blue was - I saw it in my early 20's - and in truth the movie itself was still pretty good, or would have been. See, when I first saw the movie I identified strongly with the heroine, Cresta Maribel Lee, played by Candice Bergen. Thank goodness she did become a good actor later in life, but when I got my husband to watch this movie, her portrayal was so overdone, overacted, and just plain silly that it detracted from the important issue of the movie. In 1970, when this movie came out, I was 22 and much more impressionable.

Other things I see differently are politics and religion. But I won't get too deep into that here. From a yellow dog democrat, when I was young, I have grown more into an independent voter and tend to look more at the issues and realize everyone who says they are persecuted, aren't. That there are groups who take advantage of the liberal democratic way for self gain. I am more open to both sides of the argument. The same for religion. I have gone from a total Jesus freak to an atheist who believes everyone has the right to believe or not believe as they choose.

I think we all grow and change and see things differently as we age. I know I never thought I'd say things my mother said, but find myself saying things like...you call that music? Things irritate me more as I get older. While I am tolerant of differing opinions, I am not tolerant of rude behavior and obnoxious children. Things when I was younger I didn't even notice.

Well, I guess all that to say yes, I have changed my opinions and ideas as I age. I think it's called maturing.