Dr. Strange

Or what have you done with your life?

We went to Dr. Strange recently. That feels a bit odd to say right now. Sure, we know it’s a movie and all that but still it is a strange thing to say. We went to a person like they are a destination…

Figure that one out…

Anyway, so yeah, we went to see the movie. I had originally wanted to see it for our anniversary (we were married in late November a good number of years ago now). But the thing about that falls into it being a bit more for me than it is for her. We ended up going to see the Fantastic Beasts movie instead for our anniversary. Harry Potter and all the magical stories that J.K. Rowling brought to us tend to fall into an us thing more than super heroes.

But even then I planned to see Dr. Strange in the theater even if it meant that I would be going to see it alone. I was that dead set on going to the show and seeing it on the best screen. I can’t remember if I have talked about this before. I love going to the movie theater. It is the best way to see a movie with the largest screen where you can get absorbed into the story as it unfolds before you.

I prefer the old style seats where you sit in the middle of the third row. This gives the perfect viewing perspective. Stadium seating has changed that and in my view has changed a bit of how we enjoy movies. You add to that and the theater we were at for Dr. Strange where they used lounge seating with foot rests and reclining chairs and it changes into a Frankenstein’s monster of odd possibilities. The large screen with some of the comforts of home is a strange experience.

But then I could go on about the horrors and experiences of the theater itself and never really say anything of value to the matter at hand. Do you remember where we left off?

Dr. Strange…

So we went to the show. And I don’t know about you but I think we ended up with perfect timing. It was a Sunday morning (around 11 am) and we were the only ones in the theater. This is a theater with the footrests seats that are built like living room recliners. The group that came in after the previews started actually picked the perfect time to be pretty much invisible to our experience after they sat down.

The movie was fantastic, well worth the time to see it in the theater. But it isn’t even the matter at hand other than the catalyst for the thoughts.

It struck me as I was falling deep into the stories spell. This, this is all for me. I know that sounds stupid on the surface. Enough people have gone to see the movie that it has lasted in the theater longer than many of the drivel that has been foisted upon us lately. I am not the only person to see the movie and there will be others to come after me to see it as well.

But there is something more to the whole thing. This was one of those stories that I have waited for since I was a kid. Much like the recent stints of Captain America, it was a story that cuts to the core of childhood dreams and what not. As I sat in the theater, watching the story unfold, I went through a definite meta moment. We don’t always see them when they happen but when we do it hits in a place we don’t find ourselves in everyday.

See, there are three characters in the Marvel universe that have struck a cord with me, with a few satelite characters to come along for the ride as well. Of the three, Dr. Strange and Captain America have hit the right marks to be what I would expect. I am still looking for a depiction of beast that fits some of the stories I remember growing up. But then he isn’t a big player like the others so it may never happen.

The mythology of super heroes allows us an opportunity to embrace myths in a personal way. For a long time the stigmas that the stories and culture carried kept them confined to only a certain group of people. We are watching the culture shift though. And with it the people who embrace the myths and ideas. It is becoming more and more common to find others who share the same thoughts and ideas as part of who and what they are. And I think I have taken the thought of a meta moment out into a different meta moment. Go figure…

Anyway, I didn’t have that childhood dream of flying like many super heroes could. But I did have that dream of moving to Tibet at some point and seeking out the masters of mystical wisdom and following a different path than the one my life has followed. When you look at a story like Dr. Strange, you find such a life. And it gives you the opportunity to live out such crazy dreams in a way that is far different than the reality we all experience.

Give me the opportunity and I would still love to follow the path, but I don’t know that I would trade the life I have now to follow it. Strange where our journeys take us. Like I said, it was a good movie. It gave a nod to the folly of youthful dreams within me and gave me a chance to see the world in a way that only children can imagine.

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