Life Comparisons 2
Stranger than Fiction and Personal Life Comparisons
I found Stranger than Fiction to be a very interesting and enjoyable movie. Harold Crick, the main character, is an IRS auditor who compulsively measures and rationalizes every single detail in his life. This can be partly attributed to his living 12-years alone in a life of solitude. He starts everyday by setting his watch to wake up at a precise time and following the same routine including brushing his teeth to an exact amount of brushstrokes. Harold is, in fact, what I would refer to as having an obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Not too far into this movie do I question who is really controlling his life: Harold or the narrator? In saying this, at times I do not feel in total control of my life and guided at times to a regimented routine. I, too, lead a life of a somewhat consistent agenda, just not to the extreme of Harold’s routine. I need to set an alarm in the morning to wakeup for the upcoming workday. If I were late on a consistent basis then there would be consequences. Over time there is a real possibility that I could lose my job. Harold’s wristwatch, in a sense, is his ‘security blanket’ to assure that he will never be late for the bus, work, or any appointment throughout the day.
As Harold begins to hear this voice he believes that everybody around him can hear it also. After witnessing their reactions he begins to realize that this is not true. At this point he seeks a psychologist named Professor Hilbert, who tells him, “You don’t control your fate.” At the time in this movie, I believe this to be true for Harold. Karen Eiffel, the narrator, is scripting his life and predicting Harold’s every move throughout the movie. She is a struggling author who has not published a book in years. In every
Life Comparisons 3
one of her books the main character is built up to be very likeable hero, and then tragically dies when they have the most to live...