When we face the world we need to know what we look like. The practical importance of mirrors is undeniable. You can check for blemishes, spots and general presentability.
On the downside, they can also be objects which encourage vanity and give sustenance to bloated egos.
In Greek mythology, Narcissus fell in love with his own image reflected in a pool of water. He became so hopelessly besotted with his reflection that he lost all sense of his true self.
The myth warns against the worship of one’s own outward appearance to the point that it results in alienation from others. I guess one modern equivalent might be an addiction to selfies.
In everyday life when we look at our reflections we commonly ask questions like :
• Is this what I really look like?
• Is this how I want to look?
• Is this what I have become?
The link between these questions and self-identity are obvious. Mirrors say a lot about how we see ourselves.
In the context of movies, mirror images can be applied themes like class, gender and education. A wider connection to concepts of cultural and national identity is also possible.
The maverick English film critic, Raymond Durgnat said that in movies “a mirror is a latent doppelganger”.
One telling definition of ‘doppelganger’ I found is “a ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts such a person.” By this token it’s possible to see one’s identity as a kind of haunting that cannot fully exorcised despite the overwhelming desire to be unique.
The epistemology of personal identity revolves around the question to what extent a person may be deemed identical to another. I am currently writing a book about British cinema and national identity entitled Mirror Visions – from the new wave to the new weird. While watching and re-watching films for this project I have been struck by the number of instances where characters look into mirrors.
This is the first of a series of blog posts tied to mirror images in British films. These won’t resolve all the complexities surrounding personal or national identity but I hope they shed some light on the topic and, in the process, help me clarify some of my ideas.
