What does it mean to be inspired? Today we’ll look towards “Guillermo Del Toro’s Shape of Water” for an answer.

The Power of Art

What does it mean to be Inspirational

What does it mean to be inspired? Is it the same thing to feel motivated? I would argue that it’s not, for the word “inspire” translated means “in spirit.” In other words, the inspiration comes from within the soul. To be motivated implies there is a motive, or an external force that may cause action to be taken. So when we look at great art, we aren’t given an exterior purpose, but rather something happens deep within us, and causes us to act in certain ways. It’s kind of beautiful in a way. But to truly see how art inspires us, we should turn to the great examples history has provided us.

History’s Great Examples

Since the release of the movie Fight Club, many copycat fight clubs have popped up across the nation, notably one made of Silicon Valley’s software engineers, named “The Gentlemen’s Club.” History provides many examples of these sort of copycat acts, where people try to replicate what they see in the movies, whether it be good or bad. On another much darker note, many argue that Mark David Chapman was inspired to kill John Lennon after reading The Catcher in the Rye. This shows that not everybody tries to replicate what they see but rather they act on something within themselves that the art brings out.

After movies like The Shaggy Dog, 101 Dalmatians and Lassie Come Home, were released, American Kennel Club puppy registration greatly exceeded the expected rates for Sheepdogs, Dalmatians, and Collies, due to people all across the country adopting dogs. Equally touching, even 15 years after the release of “Legally Blonde,” the film where Reese Witherspoon plays a sorority queen who makes it at Harvard Law School, people still cite it as what originally inspired them to go to law school.

What we can learn from this

It’s hard to know what to make of these examples. Is it that art simply exposes us to ideas and information we may not have been previously exposed to, and then our rationale acts upon this new information? Or perhaps we have always felt a certain way or held certain desires and powerful art only makes us act out these inner most desires.

I do not claim to hold these answers for now. Perhaps only with time and more examples will the answer become clear. Recent developments in the news may shape the current conversation about how art inspires us.

The Newest Generation to be Inspired

Shape of Water

Guillermo Del Toro’s Shape of Water is a fantastic piece of cinema and is one of my favorite films to have come out in recent years. The movie weaves a fantastical fairy tale together with the idea that everyone across races, abilities, and sexuality is beautiful.

Historical Context

But as we’ve learned throughout the years, as long as something exists and men are still on this earth, men will find a way to try to engage in some sort of sexual conduct with said thing. Users of Reddit should recall late last year when many people on Reddit confessed to trying to put their junk in coconuts for sexual pleasure.

Another change in recent years has been the desensitization to strange and bizarre news. Everyone should recall the “Tide Pod Challenge” that took the internet by storm, as many were inspired by the internet to eat what they deemed, “the forbidden fruit.” This resulted in an estimated 12,000 poison control calls.

The Newest Trend

With all of this in mind it should come as no surprise to any of us then that Guillermo Del Toro’s latest cinema reel has inspired a new trend where people have sex with fish. The internet has gone wild over this new trend. Its origins can be traced back to a video posted on LiveLeak showing two men attempting to use a carp to achieve sexual stimulation. People are calling this new challenge the “Free Willy Challenge,” as both a reference to the 1993 movie and a sexual euphemism referring to their genitalia.

Like the previous internet craze, the “Tide Pod Challenge,” there has been a similar wave of backlash against this new trend. Many of America’s newspapers are blaming millennials again for ruining fishing, another one of America’s favorite things. Thanks millennials.

In response to the criticism of the movement, several speakers have surfaced to defend the actions of their peers. They claim that the movement is healthy for them: “You can catch and release a fish, you don’t have to lie and make it promises.” a fellow Twitter user said.

It’s no joke that the current situation is off the scales. Congress will soon have to make a decision as to whether or not to pass legislation protecting fish, making sure they are giving consent.

That’s all for recent developments in today’s news, we’ll catch you next time when we discuss how Zootopia was actually an inside job, made by furries as a recruiting tool. Are your children safe? Perhaps not. In any case, check out the other latest news on our site, Amazon admits ‘Alexa’ may whisper things to you while you sleep.