I'm not a number. I'm a free man!

I was talking to a friend last night when a recurring subject came up again. There are certain fictional stories and myths with which we both have some sort of deeper connection. Stories that almost seem to be written about us. Here is a partial list of some of those stories:



The Matrix
Harry Potter
Star Wars
The Prisoner
Donnie Darko
Spiderman
UHF
Brazil
Fight Club
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Joe Vs. the Volcano
Good Will Hunting
Ghost World
Waking Life
Pi: Faith in Chaos
Office Space
2001
The Shawshank Redemption

I think I'm slowly beginning to understand why I keep thinking on a deeper level these stories are all about me. Not that I can fully verbalize it yet.

Part of the connection is that the overall story arc of many of these is very far from new. The story or myth of the misunderstood chosen one if you will. The hero finds his destiny.

I have heard it said the connections go back to, and perhaps precede, the stories of Osiris, Dionisis, Apollo, Moses, Mohammad, Buddha, and if you are willing to go there even the story of Jesus of Nazareth. A prophet is never appreciated in his home town.

I haven't really come to conclusions yet, but I find the maybes to be fascinating.

John Patrick Shanley, the writer of Joe Vs. The Volcano, Moonstruck, and many plays, won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005 for his play "Doubt."

Here is an excerpt from his introduction to the play:

"What is Doubt? Each of us is like a planet. There's the crust, which seems eternal. We are confident about who we are. If you ask, we can readily describe our current State. I know my answersto so many questions, as do you. What was your father like? Do you believe in God? Who's your best friend? What do you want? Your answers are your current topography, seemingly permanent, but deceptively so. Because under that face of easy response, there is another You. And this wordless being moves just as the instant moves; it presses upward without explanation, fluid and wordless, until the resisting consciousness has no choice but to give way."


And to finish, here is a quote from Morpheus in "The Matrix."

"You are here because you know something. What you know you can't explain. But you feel it. You've felt it your entire life. That there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there. Like a splinter in your mind driving you mad."