Imaginary Consciousness

            The imaginary is often very difficult to discuss; it’s the melding of the conscious and the sub-conscious.  It has the scientific viewpoint of the industrial revolution, but this scientific approach is to understand the primal instincts and emotions that are inherent in humans: it’s all about Freud.  The imaginary is about desire, fulfilling and channeling desire, and not so much about reason and logic.  It is interesting to think about this while watching “Destino” by Salvador Dali.  It has a bit of a plot, but that isn’t what it is about. It is about the emotions and changes that the characters go through, and often these are shown through colors, shapes, and morphing.  It can be confusing at times to various audiences; you have to be on the same wavelength when it comes to the imagination, or else it is just gibberish.

            The media plays a huge role in this area for children.  It creates a place for them to explore that is socially acceptable; it adds fuel to the fire as a supplemental activity.  When watching “The Secret of the Beehive”, the audience lives vicariously through these two girls as they play, explore, and experiment with the world.  What is fascinating is that because these girls don’t have media all the time to release their imaginations, the traveling movie mans only come a few times, they have to use the real world as their imaginary playground. The problem with this is that the real world isn’t as safe as fiction, so the girls get into some sticky situations that have real danger associated with them.

            For me this raises the question: how much danger is okay?  When I was a kid, I ran all over my neighbor with my friends and our imaginations in tow.  At times we were definitely in danger, and probably more danger than we were willing to admit because we were dumb kids.  But is keeping kids inside sitting in front of a television all day any better.  I think using your imagination is more useful and growth promoting than having it stimulated by the media.  Then there is also the fact that sitting in front of the television all the time and not getting outside is really bad for kids health and fitness.  I think that there is definitely a way to balance these two things, and that both are important. One should not be over emphasized while ignoring the other. They are both necessary.