We make ourselves blind; blindness is something we can control according to 12 Angry Men and Dancer in the Dark. We think we see something, get obsessed with the vision we have for ourselves, but it may not really be there. Can't blame nature, genetics, or the outside world. If we are blind to other people's advice, we will end up living in perpetual ignorance. Its about seeing all the facts and judging what is the truth rather than looking out for our own self interests. Looking out for our own self-interests is what makes us blind. the only way to clear the cataract is to consider others when making personal decisions.
12 Angry Men: Jurors blind themselves by having biases and secret personal agendas (getting to the ball game), quote: "You want to see this boy die because you personally want it, not because of the facts."; different professions=different intentions, skills people (architect, nurse, clock maker, house painter) vs. communication people (businessman, stockbroker who manipulate people by soft-selling), woman witness happened to be blind w/o glasses & majority of jury trusted her blindness therefore making them blind; by the end, jury never finds out the real truth, just that there's enough reasonable doubt; play isn't concerned with whether or not boy actually killed father, just whether or not men's biases are uncovered in order for them to see all the facts
Dancer in the Dark: Selma starts off being able to see with glasses, but by the end she is literally and fully blind; she comes to America to save her son's eyes/get him the procedure, but the catch is that he can't know or else his condition will worsen and it won't work. "American dream" is not all its cracked up to be: even when Selma works hard in the factory to save up enough money, people still take advantage of her (police officer); musical numbers and staging are meant to depict an alternative reality, one where the ideal American life is all well and good. Sound of Music as her fantasy of getting what she wants, quote: "Nothing bad ever happens in musicals." Selma comes to terms with her literal and figurative blindness by giving up her own life in exchange for her son's eyes.
Other ideas...
-ignorance as a starting point...ignorance is the blinding agent & knowledge of truth restores vision
-Reginald Rose and Lars von Trier make characters think that they know the truth b/c at some point, someone lied to Selma and jurors and they believed them. No one told them that they might be wrong...need to think for and about themselves to see the real truth in the world
