Love and Batman

I recognize the smells of garlic and kimchi, my mother's distinct scent, and the salty yet grassy breeze wafting through the wide-open window. And it takes me less than a second to realize I'm home.

     Recognition and realization are sisters – much like my sister and I, in fact. They are related but nothing alike. The only things they have in common, really, are their roots.

     I find the concept of love to be a perfect way to show the difference between recognition and realization. In Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennett is spunky, courageous, witty, intelligent and well spoken. In her heated relationship with Darcy, she spent a majority of her time "recognizing" her attraction to him in an attempt to analyze what it meant that she was so drawn to such a prideful and dislikeable man. But she never fully "realized" her love and desire to be with him until much later. In other words, she acknowledged the feelings she felt, but she was never fully aware of them. In the same way, anyone can point out facts and concrete knowledge, but not be able to discover the truth of it until later. 

     Beyond the emotional level, recognition and realization can also have different contexts, especially when it involves the past. The ending of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises culminates into the “realization” of the Batman’s ultimate aspirations and goals. This signifies fulfillment of what he wished to achieve in the beginning, which was to protect Gotham. This is different from other parts of the movie, when Batman merely recognized what he had to fix, but only because they were familiar to him and because his past followed him like a shadow. Realization came when he let go of memories, ties, and fears that were holding him back.

            Ultimately, recognition is important. But it’s an important first step, and life doesn’t stop there. It’s up to the individual to come into realization, which is the next and most important step.