#365DaysOfWriting – Day Twenty-One

Art imitates life. Or is it the other way around?

I was at a book club session today, where we were discussing the Civil War comic in detail. One thing about the comic book is that it mirrors a lot of real life issues – be it the conflict of ideologies of two factions, the concept of war and how it effects civilians, how neutral players in a war can impact the outcome, how some people can switch sides in an instant, and so on.

There are many such instances of art imitating life.

Be it the biopics of famous personalities, or plays/films based on real-life incidents, even fiction that uses real-life locations…

What about the other way around?

Has life imitated art in any form? Yes, there are some inspiring examples. Take the case of Lenny B. Robinson, who was sadly killed in a car crash last year. He would dress up as Batman and visit sick children in hospital every year. There’s more superhero goodness – a hospital in Brazil rebranded cancer drugs as ‘superhero serum’, so children could take their mind off the painful treatment, even if for a little while.

So it’s really a chicken-and-egg type question – do we create art because of life’s experiences, or does life draw from art and other various recorded human forms of communication? Let me know, and if you like what I’ve written, tap the little green heart at the bottom!