Essay Entry: Arts have a tremendous positive impact on society.

Hey guys! I'll be entering an essay contest being held by TIMES Newspaper (not magazine). This isn't the real essay entry, but I'm trying out a few practice exercises. Let me know what you think about it, and please be a fair judge on it because I could really use some constructive criticism. Thanks and cheers!

- Shannon



Arts have a tremendous positive impact on society.

     An array of critics cringed as Batman daringly jumped off a 40-something-story building and adeptly swooped across the dim skyline of Hong Kong, kidnapping a rich swindler in his arms. They immediately forgot that they have been bewitched by the beauty and attraction of the film they were being paid to criticize. In the summer of 2008, the award-winning director Christopher Nolan completely altered the course of cinema with his widely praised masterpiece “The Dark Knight.” Never would we have guessed that a spoiled-rotten playboy dressed as a bat fighting a clown dressed in purple would be so dark, edgy, and profound.






     Audiences worldwide were moved, and started fiercely debating about many aspects of the film. Even after the film moved out of the theatres, the debate continued, making it nearly impossible to go on the Internet without spotting a blog article on the subject matter. For a while it seemed like everyone in the world was united under the wingspan of Batman. Nevertheless, after seeing the majority of male adults dressed up as Batman in the following Halloween, we cannot help but question: Why are people making such a big deal out of a movie?






     Note to oneself: fantasies exist, even in the coldest, most rational minds of the society. All of us at one point have conceived how life would have turned out if we had all the money in the world, if we were as breathtakingly beautiful as Renaissance sculptures, or if we had any superpower we longed for. Unfortunately, those dreams were crushed as soon as we woke up in a world of mad competition, pokerfaced misconceptions, and unsolvable paradoxes. We instantaneously gather ourselves up with unconscious dignity and try to present our flattering side to the commonality. In the contemporary world, fantasizing is reduced to nothing more than a guilty pleasure, a secret hobby, due to the lack of time and investment shriveled up by the restless corporate world. People keep their mirages to themselves, the same way they used to hide love letters in the closet when they were bright youths.






     Nevertheless, there is a ray of light to the seemingly depressed human race: art. Art has been in existence since the beginning of mankind, and has provided us a vital way to express ourselves. It is defined as the process or product of deliberately arranging elements in a way to affect the senses or emotions. It has been a mirror to our minds, giving us a much-needed break from the real world. We can all account to a moment when we felt a true connection to a form of art, whether it was music, literature film, photography, sculpture, of paintings. The moment of spark sent down chills down our spines, making us feel like we could conquer the world with blunt creativity.

     Art is a rainbow palette that stretches our wings. We root for creativity and originality in a world of plagiarism and blandness. Art is one of the only devices left we could utilize to represent our fantasies, and that’s why the public craves so much of it. Art is a crucial part of the modern society, especially cultural phenomenons such as “The Dark Knight.” Such works of art provides an ample opportunity for the public to come out of their shells and voice their opinions. Art is created by humans, therefore we feel a deep connection to it. It has never been nothing more than just aesthetics; it always has been, and will be, a mirror upon ourselves.