Questions of Identity

Everyone is drawn to news of groups with which they identify. Comfort is offered by the struggles of similar others; glory is reflected with their achievements; and pride is discovered with the supposition that facing, or having faced, the same circumstances, one would do better.

So what is to be learned or felt from (real life father of two; stepfather of one) Tim Robbins playing the father of Iron Man Robert "dad of Indio" Downey Jr. in the upcoming movie. And how is one to feel about learning that Tom Cruise can go all googlyda when son Connor is up for a part in a movie?

How far should one identify with Emer, the Emu who fled the farm the night Mrs. E laid an egg — Emu dads are responsible for sitting on the eggs, sometimes not eating for the two months of incubation? And what to make of the discovering that the frightening macho monster dinosaurs of yesteryear were actually homebodies who would take care of the eggs of many ladies?

So many differences from one group is a bit a much, a fracturing of the looking glass leaving the observer with the puzzle of how he wants to put all the pieces back together.