Identity Crisis!!

Out of all of the films we watched on Thursday, I think my favorite was "The Dog who Was a Cat Inside." Not only was it interesting how the artist created something that looked two-dimensional in a three-dimensional space, I felt like the film had a lot to say about identity. People all over struggle with their identity, and there is this eternal question of "Who am I?" It gets chanted over and over again by people of all different races, genders, ages, backgrounds, religions... We all just want to know who we are, and I felt for the cat trapped inside the dog and the dog who was stuck with this internal cat. Because I've been there. It was especially powerful when the animals each tried to walk in separate directions and had to wrestle with each other to determine which way they would go. I feel like that almost every time I talk to my dad's side of the family. They all want me to do anything but animation because they don't think it's a very practical field to go into, and they remind me of this every time I'm with them, and I'm torn between appeasing them and doing what I actually want to do. I'm torn between the self that wants to love them because they're family and that's what you're supposed to do... and the self that wants to hate them because they never act like family.

And I know that there are others with similar or worse internal conflict.

So, yeah, "The Dog who Was a Cat Inside," which doesn't seem like that much on the surface, really struck a chord with me. And it gave me hope because, in the end, the animals work their conflict out, so I know it won't last forever.