The Politics of Art & Authenticity

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I have never been to the opera and last night was my first experience of such an event. I was truly shocked at how much I enjoyed Carmen for all of its spectacular singing, dancing and wit.  This is a pretty big admission since I like to consider myself a guy who generally only enjoys football and action movies. Carmen proved to be the exception to that rule. I particularly loved how the orchestra would mimic the flow of the banter between the characters. This made the fight scenes even more suspenseful and it over dramatizing even the most basic conversations. I found that to be extremely amusing especially because I like to sing-talk myself. My siblings and parents usually make fun of me for singing about my daily activities. After going to the opera I realized that I should be laughing at them. Since  I found myself sitting in a theatre packed with thousands of people, all of whom came to watch performers sing and dramatize their conversations.  I consider my night at the opera a huge success. Not only because I was able to see such an amazing performance, but because I found it extremely satisfying to watch what I had perviously thought to be a weird quirk of mine transformed into an art form.