It is probably not surprising to most of you that the more you know about something, the more you learn to appreciate it. I can point to hundreds of examples in my own life where I have disliked something and scoffed at people who like it only to learn more over time and then become one of those very people I scoffed at. When I moved to the US, I smugly smirked at people who watched football wondering how they could waste three hours watching fat men just smack into each other with no particular goal. I recall branding football as a slow-moving, pointless game. That's before a friend of mine bothered to sit with me at games and explain exactly what was going on. Today, I'm known to be one of the most vocal football fans around. There are hundreds of music artists I disliked and labeled "lousy musicians" until I learned more about the musicians and their background which made me appreciate their music much more. The list goes on and on. Even on societal and political issues, I have consistently discovered that despite easily making judgments about people and things based on what I read in the media, there is almost always more to the story. Digging deeper into almost any story will reveal that it is not as simple as the media makes it out to be. People are not as foolish (or smart) as they are made out to be. Reality is much more complex.
As a result, I have now moved to this extreme of "non-judgmentalism." I can't stand people who make broad judgmental statements about athletes, politicians, Americans, French, parenting, behavior, etc. because I always believe that these judgements are far too often based on incomplete information. The more you know, the more you can appreciate is my motto.
The latest event to reinforce this belief is my change of heart on my historically flippant comments about opera. I always thought opera to be weird. I mean, why do these women scream at such high pitches? How can you listen to hours of people screeching at high volumes where you can't understand the words?
In Milan last week, I went to see La Traviata at La Scala. My brother (who was paying for the tickets) insisted that I learn about the opera before going for the show. He gave me a short (about 60 minutes) CD that introduced and explained the opera. It didn't just outlnie the story, but provided some historical context of opera in general, the historical and societal context of this opera, some background on Guiseppe Verdi, etc. Then, it went through the opera act by act explaining not just the story, but also the singing and elements of the singing to watch for. After the show, I was a complete convert. It isn't screeching but an astonishing control of voice as a musical instrument. The elaborate sets, overacting and drama all make sense if you understand how opera developed as musical theater and who it was intended for.
I learned to appreciate and love the music. So much so that I ordered two versions of the opera on CD (should be arriving this week). I think I'll start seeking out more opera opportunities. This is why I love learning so much. The more you learn, the more you can appreciate. The unfortunate side effect of this is that you tend to see all sides to every story. If I ever ran for office, I would be the ultimate "waffler" or "flip flopper" and actually proud of it!
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