I Get It

When I travel, I try to incorporate visits to local museums. During my latest trip I was able to see an exhibit at the Museo de las Americas featuring some of the cultural histories of Puerto Rico. One of the rooms displayed this:

The artist used a photograph take in the 1920s that was originally used for documentary purposes to inform the world of the poverty and oppression in Puerto Rico. The artist painted a background and added color to the black and white photo. Adding color or changing the medium did not enhance or alter the meaning for me. Meaning making is within the individual. Each person will walk away taking something different with them whether they know the history or not.

I saw the Matrix movies, but have never played the video game. I thought the movies were an interesting view on the issues of the digital world and how far the world has been changing. That is the meaning I walked away with. On the other hand, my boys became obsessed with the link between the game and the movie and were constantly searching for answers within the two. Rather than investing that much energy into it, I decided "it is what it is" and that's how I "got it."