Tastes Change

What is it that makes our taste change?  Maturity?  Finally sick of seeing the same thing?

I'm referencing movies and books.  When I was about 20, I absolutely loved the movie Lawrence of Arabia.  I sat through it twice, when I first saw it.  Then I kept bringing friends to see it.  Once I learned that Lawrence of Arabia was about T. E. Lawrence, I wanted to get his book, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, which he wrote to record his experiences.  This is way before Amazon and Barnes and Nobles.  I went to a local bookstore and found it among the rare books.  I forgot how much it was but it was an exorbitant amount because it was considered rare.  I couldn't read it; it was over my head and thus boring to me.

About thirty years after first encountering Lawrence of Arabia, I watched it again.  I fell asleep.  How could I ever have been so enthralled by it?

The same is true with the book Gone with the Wind.  Upon first reading it in my twenties, I wanted to be Scarlett.  She was beautiful, interesting and fun. The character, Melanie was a bore.  Fast forward to twenties years later, Scarlet was a flirt, opportunist, and a flake.  Melanie was beautiful, interesting, fun and desirable.

What happened?

I grew up.