Stranger than Fiction

Watching this 2006 film makes me really glad that I've learnt the English Language enough to enjoy the former.

It's fiction. But as enjoyable as fiction should.

I love the buildings the many characters hung around in. And the furnishings. Space cadet bedsheets and designer chairs sharing a common space?! =))

A conversation between Harold and his colleague...

Harold: Dave, can I pose a somewhat abstract, but purely hypothetical question?
Dave: Sure.
Harold: If you knew that you were going to die. Probably soon. What would you do?
Dave: Huh. I don't know. Am I the richest man in the world?
Harold: You're you.
Dave: Do I have a super power?
Harold: No. Why would you have a super power?
Dave: I don't you, you said it's hypothetical.
Harold: Fine. Yes. You are really good at Math.
Dave: That's not a super power. That's a skill.
Harold: Dave... You're good at Math and you're invisible. There.
Dave: Okay. *thinks* Easy. I'd go to Space Camp.

Going to Space Camp is Dave's childhood dream. Nothing to do with the super powers he wanted to have. And being good at Math and being invisible were... precisely... Harold's 'super powers'. That's all he has that differentiates himself from everyone else. I know quite a few people who are good at Math and invisible. And I don't think they would be as good-natured as Harold in face of a similar situation.

In fact, I can imagine most people reacting angrily in the way Harold did, if and when a voice or someone else points out quite honestly the banality of their lives. And I must say Harold took to it most positively. Most people would just choose blame the voice/person, be in denial and/or numb their senses through whatever means. That's the power of fiction.

And maybe this is why Harold was given another chance. Of course, this only happens when the controller of Harold's life is in fact... 'human', i.e. Harold and Karen Eiffel. Another specifically fictional characteristic.