Me as Walter Mitty
A scene of a girl walking home, through a park.
Walter Mitty in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty – An ordinary, forgettable man who often fails in the things he tries to do and gets yelled at. In the light of all his failings, he creates an imaginative “secret life” for himself as a respected and powerful man, unlike himself in reality. He often gets lost in his own thoughts and has vivid fantasies about himself as someone who he is not.
Affinity to self: I can definitely relate to the part that he likes to imagine fantastical situations in his daily life, how he might be physically present but mentally not. I do find myself daydreaming as well from time to time due to my short attention span e.g. in lecture.
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He is an exemplary illustration as to how the human mind is highly imaginative and able to make of most out of mundane situations. In a more deep sense, fantasy vs reality: sometimes the thoughts we conjure are often compensating for things we lack/we wished we had.
Affinity to self: Sometimes watching action movies with strong female heroes make me awe and imagine myself as them. However in truth I know I am not fearsome, strong-headed enough to have such a cool, assertive presence as these leads.
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He also represents secret ambition and desire to be someone greater, something inherent in all of us. I believe everyone has this quality of Walter Mitty of aspiring and fantasising to be someone greater. For example, when people first pick up a skill, the humble beginnings before one actually become good at something – you admire others and wish you can be like them. We all want acceptance and when rejected we always feel the desire to fit in e.g. he always dreams that he is an admired person of power when in truth he is always passive and yelled at.
Affinity to self: In a deeper sense, I also had a phase of envisioning myself as someone bigger and even still do now e.g. when I first started dancing I admired proficient people and I constantly imagined myself to be better at dance and even a star, which is a fantasy (e.g. featured in Step Up).
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Lastly, his lack of action show how one can always dream, but it is important to do the action instead of just fantasising it or one will never go anywhere.
Affinity to self: At times I do feel myself letting opportunities go due to hesitation.
Dilemma
Powerful, assertive man: His imaginary self / Passive, good-for-nothing man: Reality that he wants to reject
Other shortlisted character in film/literature:
Daenarys Targaryen In Game of Thrones – A compassionate yet fierce and powerful ruler that strongly fights for what she believes in and for the nation’s interests. One filled with ambition, she becomes very successful and dominates surrounding region with her rule.
However, she is also young and reckless. Naïve to the world and brash, she sometimes makes shortsighted decisions too quickly. Her actions impact others adversely at times, though not to her intention. She has a problem of listening to authority as well due to pride and believing her ways are better, which in turn result in negative consequences.
Affinity to self
I can relate to her in the aspect of liking to do things that make others happy, however at times I do not consider all the angles thus also making short-sighted decisions that implicate others. I am also strong-headed and at times fail to heed advice from authority. With quiet ambition, I like the aim for the highest in the things I am passionate about. If needed, I like to believe I am able to stand for what I believe in too.
Picturing myself in her shoes, I would imagine myself making the same mistakes she does due to naivety in morality and a brash attitude.
Dilemma
Righteous and compassionate: fights for people’s rights e.g. freeing slavery and being very kind to the oppressed / Ruthless and not giving a second chance: Little regard for people like slave masters by killing them all, unknowingly killed a master who was fighting for her cause, thus not giving people chance of repentance
Other characters:
- Primrose Everdeen in The Hunger Games – a strong, emotionally mature, independent female character that demonstrates her strength not in the forefront but behind the scenes. Very compassionate and constantly gives emotionally support.
- Merida in Brave – courageous, adventurous, not a conformist and strong mind of her own
- Remy in Ratatouille – character that have big visions and never give up no matter how hard things get, reminds me of my tough journey in A level Art and JC dance concert
People I know:
1. My sister – On the outside she seems worlds apart from me, very different personality. She presents herself as a quiet, shy and demure individual. I seem more extroverted, loud and outgoing. However, deep down, we are very alike. She is equally as bubbly as me once she warms up, we are both be strong-minded and dominant e.g. demonstrated by our hasty driving, reaction to situations. We are on the same wavelength in terms of “weirdness” and hobbies as well e.g. dancing, designing. Regarding to flaws in character, we share common traits too e.g. at times too headstrong or unable to cope well when things do not go as favored.
Sweet and shy: People often perceive her as meek / Dominant personality: People close to her know that she can be very headstrong
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2. Friend, Halyn – My good friend who is alike to me in many ways, yet also different. She share common interests with me like the love of eating, traveling etc. We click very well and relate to each other a lot.
In terms of more complex qualities, we know both of us are not heroic archetypes, after taking the Dungeons and Dragons’ Alignment Test. In a hypothetical story, we are not the “absolutely selfless heroes” who will sacrifice all for the greater good of humanity, but rather we represent the characters who will look out for their loved ones and their self-interests first. However, the characters we represent will not be self-serving to the extent where their own happiness can be in the expense of others.
Selfless: Doing very sweet favours for friends that is not in convenience / Self-serving: Doing what is required for oneself if in a hypothetical survival situation, if in expense of others
Other people:
- My dad
- My friend, Crystal
- My boyfriend – Timothy
Public Figures:
1. Iris Van Herpen – A brilliant, extraordinary fashion designer who is always interested to push the boundaries of clothing as wearable art. She creates works with timeless beauty yet edgy qualities, dares to try new things. She explores issues inherent to herself in her fashion work, interested to venture into the topic of the human condition and self-expression.
I myself can resonate with the source of inspiration for her works (like nature) and the issues she explore. I admire how she is daring to innovate and test new waters, in which I aspire to have such qualities as well.
Form over function: The vision that characterizes all her designs, strong aesthetics / Practicality: Question regarding designs of how wearable and useful in daily life
Other public figures:
- Jennifer Lawrence – Actress, entertainer whom even though she is constantly in the limelight, she is not afraid to be her candid self and does not put up a front
- Alexander Mcqueen – fashion designer in which I greatly admire and can resonate with his artistic vision/inspiration
- Marzia Bisopnin, also known as “CutiePieMarzia” – fashion blogger that is very quirky, not afraid to show her weird side and her nerdy interests like games