Critical thinking!

My perception on non-conformity is that if you aren't being yourself you will never be truly happy. When it came time to discuss non-conformity there was mainly two sides, one side agreed with me while the other thought that it is sometimes better to conform to and that you should respect and accept the traditions that are passed down to you. Non-conformity to me simply means being who you are instead of letting the world or your tribe tell you. During the discussion of "Whale Rider" I realized that sometimes conformity can be a good thing but a lot of the time it is just someone changing for someone else.

In the movie "Whale Rider" the main girl, Pai wanted so badly to be treated like one of the boys and for her grandfather to be proud of her. Pai was always getting into trouble because of those two things. Pai didn't follow the traditions like grandfather thought she should, she never conformed to his ideas. Pai stood strong and fought hard to get respect from her grandfather and instead she got disappointment. I don't think that Pai broke the traditions on purpose she was just being a little girl who wanted the approval of her grandfather. Even though her non-conformity caused much drama throughout the tribe. Pai pushed to be just as good as one of the boys and almost died but her not conforming allowed her to gain the respect of her grandfather and become the leader of the tribe, even though she is a girl. This was a main point in the discussion that if you let your true self shine through and fight for who you are you will never be truly happy.

Another main point throughout the discussion was that to some extent conformity is good. If nobody conformed or compromised then the world would be in complete chaos. Sometimes you have to conform like Pai's grandfather did in the end when he realized that sometimes old traditions can change and make new ones that are better. It took along time for him to conform but it is hard for people to change. This part of the discussion is where my perceptions on non-conformity changed.

So in conclusion non-conformity can bring joy but can also bring chaos into the world. The discussion group opened my eyes to see how much trouble the world would be in if there were no conformity. Non-conformity is good when it comes to personal decisions and conformity when it comes to tribe or community decisions unless it hurts the group. Non-conformity is being yourself and following your heart but sometimes you need to compromise to make the world go round.