Being John Malkovich

Clip from Being John Malkovich

Being John Malkovich is a weird and wonderful story about a man who discovers a portal in his office, which leads literally into the head of the movie star, John Malkovich. Upon entering the portal, for 15 minutes you see, hear and feel everything that Malkovich is doing until you return back to reality, falling onto the same spot on the side of a road. When Malkovich discovers what’s going on, he tries to stop it but when curiosity gets the better of him, he enters his own portal with amusing consequences!

It got me thinking: What would you do if you woke up one day and that situation happened – well OK, maybe not to the point where the only word spoken was your surname – but let’s say a less extreme version. For example, there were only two different looking people on the planet; men and women.

My first thought is it would make dating a hell of a lot easier. Wow, that probably says a lot about me when I only think afterwards that there would be no racism, and undoubtedly a lot fewer wars. Less hate, discrimination, violence. You name it. Can you imagine what we might achieve as a global nation? OK, there would still be poverty in many parts of the world – we would only have the same bodies and would still be faced with the same problems; but maybe people would be a bit quicker to offer their help.

Or maybe I’m just being naïve. If it isn’t skin colour, or perceived levels of attractiveness, people will always find something else to discriminate against. I think in a way it’s just human nature.

"The-Not-So-Silent-Observer"