I couldn't say how common this is, but lately, when I consume different art forms, I find myself more interested in both the choice of words in any given phrase or sentence, and the topics that come up throughout the work.
For instance, a few weekends ago I was watching a production of 'The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe' with my partner and a few others. I already knew the story and wasn't that interested in it so for a while I started focusing on the types of words that were being used and topics that came up. One phrase that comes to mind, near the end of the story when Azlan is describing the children he says something like:
"Susan the blonde haired queen"
Why point out that she's blonde? What's the significance of that? Why not big-footed? Or something else?
Anymore I'm leaning toward those kind of thoughts about the things I read. Not 'what the story says', but what the words used in the story say about the person who wrote the story, or social norms, or even cultural universals, and social norms / universals tied to a certain period of time.
Way more interesting that way.
For instance, a few weekends ago I was watching a production of 'The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe' with my partner and a few others. I already knew the story and wasn't that interested in it so for a while I started focusing on the types of words that were being used and topics that came up. One phrase that comes to mind, near the end of the story when Azlan is describing the children he says something like:
"Susan the blonde haired queen"
Why point out that she's blonde? What's the significance of that? Why not big-footed? Or something else?
Anymore I'm leaning toward those kind of thoughts about the things I read. Not 'what the story says', but what the words used in the story say about the person who wrote the story, or social norms, or even cultural universals, and social norms / universals tied to a certain period of time.
Way more interesting that way.