mystery train discussion

Faith and I had an interesting discussion about Mystery Train on the way home Monday night. primarily about the second chapter, Luisa's story, and our interpretation of Luisa. we both saw Luisa and interpreted her reactions quite differently. I saw Luisa as a woman very much enclosed in her glass bubble of solitude from which she observed the world, not really getting involved until the episode outside the Arcade destroyed that. I don't know whether she was that way from her grief, or just her personality in an unfamiliar situation, I tend to be that way when I am out of my familiar environment. although, you wouldn't catch me giving out that much money to a con man! I felt like she was really afraid when the two men approached her outside the Arcade but that she covered it well, Faith on the other hand saw her as very tough and world weary and rather undisturbed by the events of her day. the mafiosa widow personification made a lot of sense for her and I don't deny that that comment about the type of gun (one of my favourite moments in the film...) certainly lends credibility to that label. my point is either of us could have been right or neither of us, but what I was really impressed by was how much our pasts and our personal reactions to similar situations had influenced our interpretation of the events we witnessed. I really realized all of a sudden that it wasn't just in the film that this happened but it goes on all the time in life. all of us view the events around us and the ones that intersect with our lives through our own lens. and maybe, that interpretation isn't always the right one...
I've really been thinking about that over the last few days and I've tried to remember that when I start to get upset over something. I've taken a step back and continued to try listen openly without falling prey to my response to my own personal interpretation.
--I'm pretty sure Faith has appreciated that a couple times...even if she didn't know at the time I was doing it :)