When Art Brings Out The Shadow Side Of Ourselves

When we hear about creations that are popular in our society such as Slenderman and the story on how a character went so far as to influence these 12 year old girls to stab their friend, we begin to wonder what type of creations is infilterating the minds of our youth these days where media and virtual reality is every where. Perhaps the artist who created him did not realize that what of creation he was tapping into and how far it would go. This is not the first time in history that art has influenced the times and made a strong impact. throughout history it was the artists who created a whole movement to speak out against society and injustice, from the Renaissance masters to the pre Rapaelites, Daidasm in the early 20th century and the Punk Rock movement of which I was a witness during the 70's and early 80's.

But what happens when a creation goes too far so as to de sensitize our youth and bring out the worse in them so as to commit acts of murder and destruction? We all look to art in the visual form and written word to uplift us and bring us to a centered place in our souls. But there are sides of our sub concious that we don't normally want to look at. Everyone has a dark side.We just tend to keep it in balance with the rest of our complex personalities. How over something is missing in the framework of our society when people turn to creations of characters that are nightmarish in nature and seem to be an archetype that keeps popping up in different cultures. I grew up with dark characters on TV like those on the Twilight zone and those created for the movies. Some of them originated from books, or historical myths. The only difference was that we knew it was not real and as soon as it was over we went on with our lives and we did not dwell on such things  However there are people with an extreme degree of sensitivity who cannot handle anything to do with the dark or horror side that brings out our worse fears. Those people tend to have nightmares for days when exposed to this type of art. But there is a difference between being extra sensitive and being excessively impressionable. When you are influenced so as to copy what you see without thinking about the consequences then the fabric of your being has torn a hole and needs to be repaired. I'm not saying that this is the fault of the artist who created this character. In fact I wish he could come on the show and tell his side of the story. But it's the side of our culture that has led to such extreme acts of the shadow side so as to de sensitize our youth with violence and characters whose whole makeup is of violence and dark paths that leave no room for light.

I appreciate it when art tells the truth, Even the truth that is not so  good in our lives. But how far do we go when we see creations giving our young minds ideas that are dark and destructive? That is why communication is so important and also keeping the arts alive so that they can also be exposed to the beauty of this world and of ourselves.  What does this have to do with the paranormal? Alot. It's the spirit in art and humanity that keeps creating it's self again and again.With art we look beyond the surface of our selves and into our dreams. Characters like Slenderman are the result of what is going on in our psyche and it will continue into the decades and next century. But we must keep looking and creating to keep our dreams alive.