'People are never shocked by an expression of feeling'

Amidst the wholly inept animations (artistic license aside, I truly think Allen Ginsberg would have been mortified to see such a one dimensional interpretation of his work) and the beauty of James Franco, the thing that has kept my cogs whirring post Howl is this solitary line.

People are never shocked by an expression of feeling.

I still can’t decide what to make of it.

Context aside, maybe we are never shocked by the feeling that is iterated, but the act of iteration itself. I think shock is important though. Yes, it can be horrifying but it’s also linked to spontaneity. And without that, the world would be a very dull place. 

Thank you very much Ginsberg, or the smart alec script writer who decided that would be a suitable line to slip into the film’s mismatch of genres.