The Pen is Mightier than the Sword, Remixed

I love foreign films. I'll watch something with subtitles just for the fact that it has subtitles. I guess I like them because they give me a fresh point of view. The values of a culture can be seen through the lens of films produced by that culture. What virtues do they hold in esteem? How does their culture view of universal themes like love, death or heroism? What are their ideals? Which is considered more noble—the triumph of good over evil or self-sacrifice for the common good?

The foreign language department at my school is sponsoring a Chinese film series. A little over a week ago, I went to see a movie called Hero, starring Jet Li. It contained lots of kung fu and flying through the air with swords and things like that. Though the whole movie was visually stunning, something that really struck me was the way Jet Li's character supposedly learned the secret to his opponent's excellent swordsmanship. He studied the calligraphy strokes of his opponent's rendering of the character for 'sword.' In other words, he studied his opponent's writing style in order to grasp an integral part of his character. He gained an understanding of what made his opponent a worthy one.

I'm intrigued with the possibility of gaining an understanding of what makes someone who they are through their writing. Is writing style indicative of personality? Would someone who wrote with elaborate sentences and flowery, colorful words be more generous than a person who wrote in sparse, choppy, Hemingwayan, minimalist prose? Would someone who preferred to employ complex, obscure words be less down-to-earth than someone who preferred to write with a simpler vocabulary? Would someone who relied on humor to make a point be a light-hearted individual? Would someone who liked to use an emotional appeal be a sensitive person? Would someone who peppered their essays with biting, sarcastic wit be a cynic? Is it fair to consider the product a reflection of the producer?—It's an age-old literary criticism question I like to explore.

When I write, I am aware that it is a process of intangible brain waves, an un-recordable series of synapses firing, becoming etched in a lasting, distributable medium. I don't know whether others will be able to uncover any profound secrets about what makes me me through reading my writing. (And hopefully they won't do so in an attempt to defeat me in a swordfight.) But I do hope that they find something that they can identify with and connect to their own experience.