Waste Land

     The statement made by Vik Muniz in The waste land, I believe is completely true in some situations. However, I also think that it has to do with ones perception on a situation. Two different people could look at one situation completely differently. One person could view a situation as a learning experience, for example, while maybe another person can only manage to find the negative aspect in the situation.
     In my opinion, his argument does not change so much throughout the documentary itself. I think that his statement changes more peoples view on their lives. In the beginning of the film, a lot of the workers, in my opinion, simply thought that this job was the only option they had. It was the only way they could survive and they knew that was going to be where they would be the rest of their lives. After their experience with Vik, and they saw how he could take useless garbage and mold and create it into a beautiful work of art, I believe they started seeing that they could better their lives and make something more out of themselves, just like Vik made something better out of the garbage. I think it had the most affect on the man that was in charge of the landfill picking, when he accompanied Vik to the auction and was able to witness himself how much money Vik was able to make off of his work created from garbage. It was really cool to see the workers outlook on life change after their experience.
     I do believe that this statement could be considered universal because I think with the right mind set, anyone can better their lives if they think about how they can apply this quote. If someone is always looking at situations with a negative attitude, then no, I don't believe anything better can come out of it. However, if people are optimistic and see that if they try hard enough, they can make something negative into something more positive or beautiful. This statement can relate to anyone who is going through a hardship. It is a very inspiring message that I think can be very helpful to people.