Clean Culture is the sterile death of the soul

In the 1982 movie E.T. directed by Steven Spielberg there is a scene in the kitchen where the kids are eating pizza. This scene really stuck with me as a child not because of the gorgeous tones and film grain but because the house was a mess. Everything else I watched that showed people’s living space was either exaggerated hoarder living or the cleanest house you’ve ever seen in your whole life—there was no in-between.

Scene from E.T. at the kitchen table where the kids are playing D&D, smoking cigarettes, drinking soda, and the table is a mess. A can of Raid can be seen at one end of the table. Looking back at this image now I don’t see the mess, instead I see a well-lived-in house that is true to life. This is stark contrast to the buttoned up and clean aesthetic commonly seen from social media influencers today with their neon lights, clean white or wood surfaces, etc.

I once read that imperfections were left in the patterns made by Native American weavers because perfectionism should not be a requirement for creating something beautiful and embracing flaws keeps things interesting.