Growing up I had two shelves atop half of my bedroom, lining the wall. I loved, like really loved, dolls, so I filled the shelves with all different sorts of them. I loved dolls from other ethnicity and dolls with lots of accessories. Just to prove my point, I am going to admit that I had an American Girl doll house that my dad made out of wood. Often, when I would have my little friends over for sleep overs, especially my couz Paige, they would say how creepy it was that I had these dolls staring down on me all night. That one with the cloak? No matter where I go, she is still looking at me - they would say. Okay, they were not creepy; what is so scary about a sweet little doll? Except when one randomly fell off the shelf - now that did make me jump - but I liked to pose some of them standing up which sometimes made them a bit wobbly.
I think maybe I wasn't sketched out by them because they were my own dolls. I knew each of them: their personalities, likes and dislikes, temperaments; because I had created them; they existed truly in my head. What an interesting idea. For two reasons:
1. Whenever we create something it does exist first in our head. This Pixar short first had to be created in someone's head. And why did they create it? What does it mean to them? When I watch it, I also use my eyes and noggin to create meaning. What does it mean to me? What does it mean to you? Blowz my mind. (EMD*)
2. On a more spiritual side of things. God knows us each perfectly, and he created us. Maybe that is why he can see us not as we are now, but as we can become. He sees our divine potential and worth. Perry cool stuff. To find out more about the LDS (or Mormon) church, go here.
*EMD refers to English Major's Disease and often happens when English teachers think everyone is going to love literature as much as they do, among other symptoms. Coined by Dr. Chris Crowe.
This post just makes me smile. You are great. :)
ReplyDeleteI love this as I love dolls too. My daughter creates personalities for her dolls too as did you. I love how your line that God knows our potential and worth - how true that is....
ReplyDeleteYes, that film was pretty disturbing! It's so true about creating things spiritually before we create them physically. Especially if we want them to turn out well. I've always liked the Creation story in the Pearl of Great Price because God says after He describes the whole creation that He is describing its spiritual creation. That He created it all spiritually before he created it physically.
ReplyDeleteI love that your dolls all have personalities, temperaments, etc.
Yes, this one is creepy. I used it this year in my classroom and the middle school students produced some great writing from this. I especially like the way sound is used in the short. The clicking of the doll's eyes at the end gets me every time. There are so many interesting things to think about with the way this film was created. And I agree, my dolls were never creepy to me because I knew their stories...I created them after all.
ReplyDelete