Doppleganger (Part 2, essay 4)

The concept of a doppelganger is a fear or interest that has been around for centuries. The idea that there is another who is exactly like you yet evil is an almost unbearable thought. The question is why do we fear something similar to ourselves? Why is it that we cannot allow another to exist? It all stems from our cultures infusion of “special” and the need to stand out. We all have this need to fit in, yet at the same time we must feel special in some way. We try and differentiate ourselves from the majority.

Throughout the class, we have looked at many different representatives of the doppelganger concept. We have looked at the photographic example, the biological and the double achieved through other means. The photographic double is the most prevalent today. We have cameras and mirrors; we have film and video games. Today’s society has gotten use to seeing ourselves in the third person, but some of the novels we have read have taken it to the extreme. The Invention of Morel was photography and film taken to an almost real level. Everything from smell to three dimensional records and sounds were all captured and played on an eternal loop. The comfort zone that people have developed around pictures and video was stretched and tested. Would we be able to live in this world where there was no differentiating real from video? Morel also questions the ability to have a double. If there was something that could capture every aspect of us, it may kill us.

Can we live with a double? This is another concern that comes up often. In movies it’s a common theme that “only one may live.” The movie The One is a perfect example of this. There are multiple dimensions with multiple people but in order to be as powerful as you can get you have to destroy all your doppelgangers. This is also brought up in the movie we watched about time travel. Almost every time travel movie or story talks about the dire effects if one were to communicate with oneself while traveling through time. The fact that it may lead to total destruction of the world or death of that person instills more fear in us. We have been told continuously throughout our lives that if there are two of us it is bad.

This is where biology starts to play with the concept of doppelgangers. Twins and cloning are two things that throw a hinge into common perceptions of doubles. We have all been around identical twins. We know that there is not always a “good” and “evil” twin. We know that twins are usually very close as opposed to enemies and we know that twins are not identical in personality. We know this yet it does not eliminate our fear that if there was somehow another of us it would be bad and chaotic. This may be why so many people are opposed to human cloning. There is the argument that it is immoral and wrong, but never a full explanation of why it is so. Maybe it is the fact that the majority of the human race are scared to not be special. If we can just make another one of us, why would we need to exist? It is similar to Brave New World. Everyone is perfect and content, until one person throws a wrench into it to make people different. This wrench is the exact opposite wrench that would be thrown into our society. We all believe we are completely different and do not want to be told otherwise. We are special. We are unique. We are better.

Biological doubles are feasible. Other doubles through time travel or brainwashing are less feasible. It is hard to understand a double made from time travel because of how confusing time is in general. How can we exist in two different times and places at the same time? Doubles through brainwashing seems science fiction, yet is all around. We see it everywhere. People who think they are very different, but because of advertisements and influence from media they are all very similar if not identical. America or any culture, tries its hardest to create a homogenous world. It is easier if everyone is identical. Propaganda affects us and clones us.

Because technology is requiring us to do so, we are slowly accepting doubles. There are so many ways to create doubles with today’s technology, that our fear is becoming obsolete. We have so many websites, cameras or even robots that are slowly developing into perfect doubles. If we had these irrational fears of doubles, we would be unable to cope with today’s world. We copy ourselves every time we join a site or take a picture and future will hold opportunities for even more advanced doubles. Eventually we may live in a world were genetic modification before birth will be commonplace. Once each child can be “perfect” either the standards will change or children will all become doubles. Once everyone is the same, there is no way the fear of evil doppelgangers will be the least of everyone’s concerns.

The Filth explores technological advances leading to evil doppelgangers with the para-personality of Greg Feely. Once Greg Feely was forced into the world of Ned Slade, he was replaced by another who took up the life of Greg Feely. It was as easy as taking a shot.

Technology supposedly opens up all these opportunities for “individual” expression. This is counterintuitive. The more we start to rely on technology the further away from individual we become. We start to all have our websites, cell phone, video game and photographic representations of self. We start to separate ourselves further from the physical world the more we rely on the digital world. How does this eliminate individuality? The digital world has limitations. We must sum up our personality in pictures, words and videos. All the words are already used. Slowly all the pictures seem the same. All the videos have been done before. As we eliminate our limitless physical selves we replace it with the bounded digital world. Because it is limited there is no way to be a complete individual. We slowly mold into doppelgangers whether we want to or not.