Why do we find some things beautiful?

           Watching some of Terrence Malick’s films you see that memorable cinematography and beauty are given special attention. But what and why are some things considered so beautiful? The setting in “The Thin Red Line (1998)” is wartime Vietnam and although much of the land is possessed by war, it is impossible not to appreciate the superb scenery and awe-inspiring landscape. The score also increases the sense of beauty that is expressed throughout the film. So all I am curious about is why do I watch that film and recognize some of the things I see in it as beautiful, especially one about a war that took so many people’s lives.

            What is beauty? What is beautiful to a person is subjective, but the idea of beauty is what I am interested in. Someone may find a spatula beautiful; though I may not agree with him or her, beauty is still viewed by him or her. Just as what makes people happy and sad differs, it is still understood that happiness, sadness, and even beauty, though received from different things, is still interpreted in relatively the same way. I’m happy when I’m happy and sad when I’m sad; to be otherwise is to be in mental conundrum. So when something is considered beautiful from what aspects of that thing am I deriving that beauty and are the concepts of beauty that I find held within something shared amongst people?

            This is where I tend to get rather lost, especially since people derive beauty from so many things. For instance, I know someone who enjoys watching videos of pimples and cyst’s popping out puss. To me this is rather repulsive, but they enjoy watching the release of such pressure and you could say they find beauty in it. I too enjoy the release of pressure, but am too distracted by the puss to really appreciate those videos. However, it is important to see that although I do not enjoy the videos I do relate to the idea that pressure being released can be enjoyable. For example, when I have a final, I become stressed (pressure builds up) and when I finish taking that final I usually feel pretty relieved (pressure is released). Even if the concept of pressure being released is not considered beautiful, it makes me curious if there is some universal thought about what beauty is. What makes a song or a poem touch you? Why does a scene from a movie make you cry?  Why is this scene from "Tree of Life" so beautiful to me (and more importantly does it really need to be in the movie)? If people could respond by sharing a scene from a movie that they found beautiful and then explain why, I would love to gain some new and fresh perspectives of beauty.

Tree of Life clip