Week Thirteen: Curate Yourself

I was looking at the course blog to further understand what dynamics my curation should be. A quote that made me decide was this: "These courses strive to help the student become more attuned to issues of ethical and moral responsibility." More specifically, moral responsibility is what got me thinking.

A Japanese anime called "Naruto" was released over ten years ago. As a child, I thought the ninja fights was the coolest aspect, but when I looked back at the narrative in my late high school years and now, I became entranced by the hidden meanings behind the story and the grander lessons the writer is trying to teach his audience.

We follow a young ninja named Naruto who is practically shunned from the village. He has an evil beast within him which scares the everyone community. Twelve years ago, the beast ravages the village and killed scores. It was Naruto's father, the hokage (leader) who sacrificed himself to seal the kyuubi within Naruto.

Despite the constant hatred and isolation he dealt with, he continued to train and became so strong that he is able to protect them and gain their respect. Even before the two times he saves the village, people began to flock around him because of his positive personality and outlook on how every ninja should be. Later, he becomes what he set out to be, the hokage.

I chose to curate this work over others because of the moral responsibility Naruto had for his community. He endured sadness, neglect, ridicule and humiliation to make sure this type of ignorance never happens again.

There is a huge story arch following a rival Naruto met and learned to love. His name's Sasuke of the Uchiha clan. While he was a child, Sasuke's brother killed off every single clan member for the greater good, for this clan was planning to take over the village. Because of these events, Sasuke was just like Naruto, alone. But he only endured so much and went down a path towards evil. Naruto never gave up on Sasuke, though. Their paths were to close for Naruto not to empathize with him, and by tyhe end of the plot, Naruto brings him back. Sasuke resembles what Naruto could have been if he didn't have the moral drive to stay positive.

In reality, I believe in the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. That is my moral ethical responsibility as an artist and I see nothing but inspiration in this piece.