Chiriku
I wonder however that the reverse scenario might also be at play. For example we might appreciate the acting and storytelling of a classic movie from the earlier days of Hollywood, and yet if we remove our nostalgic rose tinted glasses, the acting and the sets from those movies is so stylized that we can't truly "believe" even if we appreciate the performance. By comparison to the visual reality of todays productions, those past movies are the "faux" or "almost" and the further back you go in time the more "faux" it becomes. We are hardly going to brought to tears or laughter by a Shakespearean performance in the Round House as would the audience of the day.
I don't think this scenario--which is an apt analogy--is the reverse of what I mean; I think it's the same thing I'm talking about. In whatever time or culture we live, there's a certain norm ( for what's "moral," for what's "beautiful," for what's "realistic") and we're conditioned to that. Anything different to that causes dissonance for our brains and we're not able to fully buy into whatever "truth" is handed to us, even if we wanted to.
This conditioning comes in and out of vogue in different eras in places. The Shakespearean acting of the 16th century--which, yes, would appear overblown, clownish and absurd to the eyes of someone living in England or America now--can be re-introduced. If it becomes the mode and gains traction within society, eventually a new generation of children will grow up believing it to be the norm. These kids' brains will experience dissonance at viewing old clips from Clint Eastwood or Meryl Streep movies; on a subconscious level, that type of acting just won't 'work' for them because they haven't been conditioned to it.
I think what may be happening here is that Tarot being so steeped in history causes a kind of knee jerk rejection of contemporary variations. Thats not a criticism, just a thought.....
I agree, and think it's once more an example of cultural conditioning. Tarot is meant to be 'old' and 'authentic' (a highly fraught word, that). In the cultures of most people who consume tarot decks, old and authentic are associated with "organic" and, for cultural reasons, digitally-produced or -arranged art is far removed from "organic" in the public consciousness.
I don't even know if young teens and grammar school-aged kids today understand the idea of "virtual reality" as people were talking about it in the 80s. To them, their exceptionally well-rendered video games and blockbuster movies and so on are not all that "virtual." The line between "reality" and "virtual" is not distinct for them as it was for those before them, and I am interested to learn if that generation--I guess in another 10 years or so--will take like a fish to water to tarot decks with digitally-produced or-arranged art.
I want to know if, as you hint here, they will look at, say, the watercolor art of the Llewellyn Tarot or the realistic landscape paintings of the Hallowquest Tarot and feel a subconscious dissonance they can't explain, that just "leaves them cold" (sound familiar?)...