Opera Conversation

When I attempted to discuss opera with my girlfriend she didn’t quite understand the question or why I was asking it. She said it was “funny to listen too” and was comprised of old fat people singing “ooooooooo”. I thought it was interesting that even when I mentioned the looney toons operas she didn’t register anything else, she hadn’t even seen them either. I found it interesting that someone who grew up in our generation hadn’t seen these operas or known anything beyond the simplistic knowledge that is presented in television commercials (such as J.G. Wentworth’s operatic bus trips) or other mainstream stereotype fed media. I felt a need as our conversation petered out to fill her in on the opera’s I’d seen, which isn’t very many, and attempt to gain more context or insight that way but still garnered nothing more than just a “Oh I’ve heard of that, I guess I know somewhat what an ‘opera’ is about”. It is partially discouraging because operas are a dying art form and should still have some relevance for today’s generation beyond a structured settlement commercial, there should be a greater exposure to movies such as the phantom of the opera and any of the looney toons operas because they do give some sense of what the opera was truly like. Although our conversation was brief I feel I did gain some appreciation for my simplistic understanding of opera and I hope to gain a large understanding soon as well.