Who Are You?

Have you ever taken those personality tests on Facebook? You know, which character in Firefly, Downton Abbey, etc. are you? What did they tell you about yourself?

photo from wikia.com

I’m guilty of doing them. I say guilty because I should be writing instead of playing games. That means I shouldn’t be playing solitaire either. But I digress. 

I only play if I know the show/movie/book. Like Firefly. I wanted to be Kaylee. I love her. She’s such a free spirit. According to the game, I’m Zoe. That was a surprise. Zoe is a leader. She’s strong, loyal, and she carries a big gun. Most importantly, she always has the captain’s back. I wouldn’t mind having Captain Mal’s back. But Zoe is so serious. I want to be a free spirit. Oh, well…

Why do we play those games? Sure they’re fun, but do they really tell us anything we don’t know about ourselves?

Sometimes I think we know the characters in our books better than we know ourselves. For our hero and heroine, we do character charts, we know their background (all the way back to childhood), we know their faults, their weaknesses, their strengths. Readers think we make up all that stuff. To some extent, yes. My characters “tell” me more than I make up. When I get stuck, I “interview” the character. As the “reporter” I type the questions then answer as the character. Oh, my. The things I learn.

With the characters we make up, we can examine their lives objectively. With our own? We know who we want to be, the traits we want the world to see. But really, who are we?

By the way, I’m The Chosen One. According to the game “What’s Your Patronus?” mine is a stag, the same as Harry Potter’s. Now I can’t wait to find a game for The Matrix. Will I be Neo?