Your opinion is not influenced by anyone when you're alone at a matinee. It's just you and the movie.
Your biggest influences are the earliest ones. When I was young, I was very influenced by the short stories of Nathaniel Hawthorne.
You'd have to be completely crazy not to be influenced by and take from other artists. It's completely impossible not to.
You can vitally influence your life from within by auto-suggestion. The first thing each morning, and the last thing each night, suggest to yourself specific ideas that you wish to embody in your character and personality. Address such suggestions to yourself, silently or aloud, until they are deeply impressed upon your mind.
Yes, influences are enriching, and they can be found in every work of art, even the most original.
Yes, I do write poetry. It's very therapeutic. I'm influenced by Pablo Neruda and Gulzar Saab. It's all very personal.
Years ago, the NFL influenced what happened in college. It's the other way around now.