How do we view things?

I watched the movie mona lisa smile today. I had seen it before, and didn't remember much about it. Today it seemed very thought inspiring to me. Maybe it was the point of the movie or maybe it was the mood I was in while watching it but here is what I got to thinking about during and after the movie:
There is a scene in the movie in which she shows her group of girls she is teaching (girls who think they've got it all, know it all and have nothing to learn) a painting she made for her mother as a child, a simple painting of a cow. She then said that it was art. Then she showed a picture of her mother, and said that too was art. The girls all disagreeded so she asked "If Ansel Adams had taken the picture, would you say it is art then?". This question got me thinking, who deems what art is? It kind of goes along with the phrase "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". Who determines what beauty is? Who determines what we should view as valuable?

I think the point of the movie was to show that she got the girls to try and think for themselves. Even now in "real life" we have so many voices telling us how to think, how to live. Trying if you will to tell us what art is, what beauty is. Rather then encouraging us to create, to be confident, to learn to be ourselves. I love fashion, fashion magazines, cosmo and such magazines as much as the next girl, but we should never allow them to guide us in how to live, or make us feel less for not being "beautiful" in the sense that the people in them are. Everyone has beauty, just in different ways and we should learn to embrace that. I fail at that all the time, allowing media, movies, other girls to make me feel less. I want to try and be who God has created me to be and to learn to think for myself so to speak and not be so influenced by others. Just by God!

So next time you see a piece of art, rather then liking or disliking it by some standard out there, look at it with open eyes and judge it for yourself. Next time you look at yourself, don't go by others opinions..... remember God has made you and rejoice in it!