My youngest son and I watched the movie Another Earth recently. The story follows a 17yo young woman responsible for a horrific car accident and her attempt to make amends four years later. Another Earth refers to the discovery, the night of the accident, of a planet resembling Earth (Earth 2) approaching Earth. As it turns out, Earth 2 was a mirror of Earth and an identical world to ours--until each Earth became aware of the others' existence. Then the synchronicity ended.
I've been thinking about this movie and wondering what it would be like to meet my "other" self. Would I like my other self? Would I even want to be friends with my other self? If, indeed, my other self was somehow leading a different life than I...how would her life be different--better...more complete than my own? What if my other self was perfect (as I define perfection) in every way? Would I hate my other self?
Conversely, what if I hated my other self for what she wasn't? What if she embodied everything I despise? What would I do then?
Would you want to meet your other self?
Really?
I think we all have a deep fascination to meet that traveller on a winter's night that happens to be our doppelganger. The possibilities are spooky as hell, because if they were better then we would hate them out of spite and if they were worse we might hate them just the same. I wouldn't want to meet my other self. Maybe I'd be scared I'd freak myself out and fuck myself up even more.
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