Dina Seremet - 1st blog

The other day in class, we watched the film “Everything is a Remix.” The film got me thinking, what even is originality. It showed us that nothing truly is original; even the epic series Starwars has lots of influences from other works. I never thought about it, but everything is a remix. I always wondered how all these authors and directors are able to come up with such original and different ideas, but now I see that all those ideas are remixes of other things. We all build off of influences, even if we don’t know it. Our influences could be a book we read when we were younger or an episode of a TV show. All these influences added together over time could result in one’s originality. This made me begin to question my originality. Who am I, and how do the influences around me affect me? I always knew others influenced me, but I never thought that I wasn’t original. I thought we were all unique. 

Even though we are all a remix of different thoughts, beliefs, and influences, I do believe we all are still original. I am different from all my friends and family because of my experiences and environment. First off, I am Bosnian. Both my mom and dad are from Bosnian but were forced to leave during the Bosnian War. Bosnian was my first language and has continued to be a prevalent part of my life. Not only is the language a large part of my life, but so is the culture. The culture has helped transform me into the person I am today, thus being a part of my remix. I also am a dancer. I have been dancing since the age of two. Although several young girls take up dancing, I continued with it all my years of school. I also have spent many years playing the piano. All of these things, although others may have done all the same things, have allowed me to become my own remix. This is because each person has their own perspective and personal experience with these things. The various combinations of things allow us all to be remixes of things, but different. Thus, allowing me to find my own originality.

The film “Everything is a Remix” also made me think about all the academic writing pieces I have completed. Almost every piece I have written is based upon something else. Even though I may have written my own textual analysis of a novel, those ideas were all developed by the author. They were put there for us to find and analyze. I am just remixing the author’s ideas around to produce a sound analysis. It is almost impossible not to be influenced by great works while writing a piece. Often times, writers look back at works that they look up to for guidance. Although almost all my writing pieces were remixes, I think my first piece that was not a remix of any other text or piece of work was my college essay. My college essay was based entirely on me, I did not look at any other texts. Although works may have impacted me throughout my life, there was no specific text or work that guided my writing. It was all my knowledge.