Aeris, Gossip Girl, and assumptions.

I’ve been trying to think of how to put this because I haven’t found the correct way to put this, because I haven’t found the right word/s to describe it. I could say it is about second chances but I’ve always felt that it is something that applies more so to people rather than things. That’s not what I plan on talking about though, what I’m trying to talk about is more about revisiting assumptions. It might be easier if what I do is use an example.

The first thing that comes to mind is Aeris or Aerith depending on your choice of translation. Now this might be an outdated example, but I think it’s the most accurate one that I’ve got. So Aeris was a video game character, the archetypal healer, and you get her close to the beginning of the game, but around a third of the way through she dies, and it is inevitable to stop if you wish for the story to progress at all. And so I found myself thinking what was obvious, “why use a character that ends up dying,” or “why use a healer, when there are other ways to save and heal your other characters.” I thought she was useless, and in some ways she still kind of is. But now, looking back at her I think she is integral, not only because you realize by the end of the game that she had a purpose but how her perma-death added a certain level of depth and character that I had previously not noticed in video games. But only for the reason that she wasn’t permanently playable, I wouldn’t play her. But in my most recent play through, I really don’t want to let her die. Though the main character’s inability to help stop someone he cares about from getting hurt also strikes a personal cord with me. Because I was unable to help someone.

Another example may help.

So at the time that I started writing this I had just finished watching Gossip Girl, and the fact that it turned out to be a much better show than I had expected, it semi-inspired me to write this. My first thoughts on the show, this is of course based on me having never watched even a single episode before and only having read small plot descriptions and seeing a television trailer or two. So I just thought it was going to be rich kids with rich kid problems. And in part I was right. But that’s not all it was. The characters were compelling, interesting, and more than initially seemed and at the end you realize that it all was just one big love story. And had I not given it a chance I wouldn’t have realized that interesting character driven television dramas were still being created with young adults in mind.

After writing this I realize that it is in part about revisiting assumptions, part about not judging a book by its cover and a bigger part about me talking about things I like. But I want to try and change that.

Now I may have mentioned this in a previous post because I already have assumptions as one of my tags. But assuming makes an ass(out of)u(and)me. And this more than anything has motivated me to revisit some of my old assumptions, but also in an attempt to better myself. Because it is not just in the present where you can change, change can be made for the future in the past.  Because it is not just good to change who you are but to learn from whom you were as well.

I hope this helps someone look back on something that they had previously dismissed, thought badly on, or even ignored based on hearsay or someone else’s experiences.

Post Script: Thinking back on this I find that a Switchfoot quote comes to mind. “Doubt your doubts and believe your beliefs.” I feel like that quote actually kind of works when it comes to this post. And at the time of me scheduling this post, I actually have no more fully written, which could end up being kind of worrisome because I don’t know if more will be posted after this one for a while. But I do hope there will be.