Entertainment VS Art

All of us will talk about entertainment.
Maybe you don't talk politics, religion or sports, whatever.
But for sure, we will always be talking about entertainment.

To students, it is considered not good to be always engaged and talking about entertainment.
Who can blame them? Conventional way of studying won't get them interested in the knowledge of things they are supposed to be learning.
So they are forced to minimize entertainment, and focus on being excellent in studying through this conventional way.

I also agree that it is not healthy to students, and anyone as a matter of fact, to be too immersed in entertainment.
But, what if we are using the wrong word?
What if the word that we are looking for is art?

Entertainment is a word that in lot of contexts, brings negative connotation.
But what if actually we are talking about art?

Art can be considered as a key to our souls, and can touch our hearts in magnificent ways. This is why when we immerse ourselves in it, logical thinking is rarely being used.

For example, I like Detective Conan. Despite not having the time to watch it often, I like it.
I'll share the synopsis for those who may not know about it, although I believe it is a quite well-known show.
It is a manga series characterizing a boy who solves crime by using a tranquilizer needle to put a real detective to sleep, and impersonates his voice using a voice changer to reveal the solution to the case.
I need to warn you that the actual plot is not as simple as it sounds, and I encourage you to check it out.

By the way, take a look at this sentence:
"...using a tranquilizer needle to put a real detective to sleep, and impersonates his voice using a voice changer to reveal the solution to the case."

I want to raise a simple suspicion here.
Can you tell if someone is sleeping or not just by looking? Most of the time, right?
Now, if that particular person starts talking, would you be surprised? Of course, right?
Most importantly, you will not believe that that particular person is talking, when his mouth is clearly not moving, right?

This is what happen in Detective Conan.
A person who is seemingly talking, yet is clearly visible to be sleeping.
No one suspects anything. No one.

Again, I'm telling you, it's not as simple as it sounds. But still, it should raise suspicions by now. Moreover that the name of the show itself is 'Detective Conan', is there no one that actually want to investigate why a person who is seemingly sleeping, can actually talk? Without moving his mouth?

Despite all of these, I still love it. And I know many people that also love it.
This is the power of art. Even if it does not fit your rational thinking, your heart and soul would still be attached to it.
I'm not even talking from the perspective of a fan. In simple words, you still enjoy it although it is not realistic.

This is what I believe the difference between entertainment and art.
Entertainment is just there for your... well... entertainment.
But art can touch your hearts, and connect with our souls.

Don't you think through these two things, our behavior and thinking will not be affected?
Entertainment and art can overlap, but we can seek the differences in the content.

I can say that most mainstream art pieces are entertainments.
Sex, drugs, violence, unrealistic romance, insensitive humors, excessive enjoyment, all are portrayed by various mainstream art pieces, like songs, movies, TV shows, videos, dances, even paintings (hence the negative connotation).

And I said mainstream, because it is usually the non-mainstream art pieces that can be truly considered as good pieces of art. Where they touch our hearts, open up our souls, and then finally portray about things that are truly important and crucial.

Not just about sex, drugs and others.
Friendship, patriotism, God, spirituality, family, education, mercy on humanity, helping those in need, etc.

I once watched a theater performance about the colonialism onto the land of Sabah in Borneo.
As a West Malaysian, I can detect differences that I've learned from where I came from, formerly known as Tanah Melayu (Malaya Land (I guess?)).

But despite the differences, I watched it, and I felt more patriotic.
The gunshots, the imperialists, sounds of crying baby and whining mothers, bloodshed of armies involved.
The performance was so well put, that even if I did not know the accuracy of the historical setting, I felt more patriotic.

At that moment, I don't care about what I know.
I only care about how I feel.

This is the power of art.
Art can change the way on how you feel about things, regardless how true of not that feeling is.
And ultimately it can change the way you behave and think about those things.

So, to those working in the art field and taking the art majors, I salute you.
Despite what others think, it is not easy to put a performance that will not just attract people, but also bring value in them. It's never easy.
It's a shame that people equate art for just mere entertainment.

So I do believe it is time for mainstream entertainment to start a change and shed a positive light, for the sake of the society.
Put more value in it. Teach people valuable things. People can carry on talking about a show that they like for hours. It fit us more humanely to learn values in this way, rather than the conventional way of studying facts.

Some might say a major in art is a useless degree.
They may not realize how much power does art has.
A good art will touch people's hearts and make a spark in people's souls, challenging and changing how they view things.
A bad art will just be there as a mere entertainment, just fulfilling the lust without adding values to the people consuming it, stunt the growth of the soul, and ultimately corrupts the society.

Show them what you got.

gabrielecripezzi.com

p/s: Search 'art' in Google Image and see the first picture. Then ask yourself, is it art or entertainment?