On Breaking With Convention And Building A New Credibility

by Travis Mateer

I was surprised to see a word I’ve been using in some private conversations recently pop up as Merriam-Webster’s word of the year. Here’s what came up at the top of my search result:

When I received a cash donation from a local politician it was because this person thought I was authentic. This person didn’t always agree with what I wrote, and even acknowledged that my critical focus could land upon them (I’m being coy with the gender to protect a source), but because of the authenticity this person felt I exhibited, a donation was given.

A recent comment thread on my post about a young man being groomed to be a globalist got me thinking about authenticity, credibility, and the accusation that my “guilt-by-association” approach to one particular commenter is a fallacy I should avoid. To the other commenter who brought this up, I have a question: why?

Here’s a portion of the comment so you can see the framing Mr. Hunt’s criticism takes:

Mr. Hunt can be forgiven for not understanding why I think the provenance of Missoula’s elite has significance, and part of that significance if familial. Is this fair? I don’t give a shit if conventional thinkers, like those of Mr. Hunt’s generation, think it’s fair or unfair to point out familial connections in the context of power and how it’s shared and exerted. 

I have a different example of how familial connections are significant, from my perspective, one that I think is more interesting and useful in exemplifying how I’m approaching this idea of “new credibility”. Why? Because it has to do with actors and popular culture, so hopefully this will be less antagonistic for those who hate-read me.

What are some elements of this “new credibility”, and how am I applying it to the show, Mr. Robot? Great questions! Get those open-minds ready for lift off! Also, spoilers ahead.

The lenses I apply to mediated content include looking at symbolism, numerology, memes, who/what provides financing, synchronicities, potential for predictive programming, and curiosity, or intuition. Instead of dwelling on whether or not these lenses represent credible approaches to understanding the impacts of a tv show, how about judging the results? On that note, let’s begin examining this narrative.

The first thing to note is the creator of this show, Sam Esmail, is ALSO behind the much talked about Leave The World Behind. Why is it being talked about? Because it’s produced by the Obamas, and involves a cyber attack, that’s why. With that point made, here are two of the main characters of our story, Mr. Robot.

The character on the left is Elliot, a hacker with Dissociative Identity Disorder stemming from a core trauma his alters were created to protect him from. On the right is Angela, Elliot’s childhood friend who he trauma-bonded with him because they both had a parent die from toxic exposure facilitated by the E Corporation.

Already we have symbolism at work, with Angela often portrayed in white, and Elliot in his black hoodie. This represents the duality of the world we inhabit. Checkerboard patterns, which this show features plenty of, also represent this duality.

The colors blue and red also represent duality, and when combined create purple. In one scene Angela is being tested in a creepy room by a young girl and one of the questions she is asked is ARE YOU RED OR ARE YOU PURPLE. For those familiar with Kabbalah, there might be some significance here.

Among other things, blue is associated with water, which is in turn associated with life. In Kabbalah, blue is one of the colours of Chessed, lovingkindness. Red is its polar opposite, the colour of blood and fire, representing Gevurah, judgement and severity. Combining red and blue gives purple, the balance between them, Tiferet, seat of truth and beauty. On a mystical level, the purple argaman (ארגמן) also represents the chief angels Uriel (אוריאל), Raphael (רפאל), Gabriel (גבריאל), Michael (מיכאל), and Nuriel (נוריאל).

Let’s take what blue represents–water–a step further by adding the reflection/portal/Narcissus aspect of water. This is relevant to our story because our story includes the idea of alternate timelines, time-travel, and ultimately reversing the regret’s of one’s life, or so hopes the Chinese hacker/Security Minister, the White Widow.

Here’s a little context from the myth of Narcissus:

Narcissus, in Greek mythology, the son of the river god Cephissus and the nymph Liriope. He was distinguished for his beauty. According to Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Book III, Narcissus’s mother was told by the blind seer Tiresias that he would have a long life, provided he never recognized himself. However, his rejection of the love of the nymph Echo or (in an earlier version) of the young man Ameinias drew upon him the vengeance of the gods. He fell in love with his own reflection in the waters of a spring and pined away (or killed himself).

I’m bringing in water and myth because my own attempt to understand some serious shit took me to the headwaters of the Susquehanna river recently, which is ALSO the location of Cooperstown, a town that grabbed credit for being the place where baseball originated. 

What does this have to do with Mr. Robot?

I take notice of names, and the repetition of names, so the name of the actress who plays Angela got my attention. Why did the name Portia DOUBLEDAY get my attention? Because I immediately thought about that story of baseball’s false origin, and a big name involved in that narrative subterfuge was a guy by the name of Abner Doubleday. 

While there doesn’t appear to be a direct family connection, looking into this surname did turn up some interesting stuff, like the geographical location where old Abner had some Theosophical connections.

In the summer of 1878, Doubleday lived in Mendham Township, New Jersey, and became a prominent member of the Theosophical Society. When two of the founders of that society, Helena Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott, moved to India at the end of that year, he was constituted as the president of the American body.

Another interesting connection came from Portia Doubleday’s father, Frank, and the filmmaker he worked with, John Carpenter. Why? Because the Carpenter film, The Thing, is playing on a tv in season 4 after Antarctica is mentioned. Here’s the Carpenter connection from Wikipedia:

Frank Doubleday (January 28, 1945 – March 3, 2018) was an American actor whose most notable roles were as film villains.

Doubleday was born in Norwich, Connecticut and moved to Los Angeles with his family as a child.

Doubleday is known for films including John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) and John Carpenter’s Escape from New York (1981)

Before I found the Doubleday/Carpenter connection, like the night before, I had an interesting realization while listening to DJ Shadow. What I realized is the track titled “Changeling/Transmission 1” has a sample from the John Carpenter film, Prince Of Darkness. This synchronicity–because of the content of that movie and its relation to what’s happening in this world–freaked me out a bit.

There are many other aspects of this show I’d like to document, but this post is already getting a bit long, so I’ll tease a part II instead and will continue this with a closer look at the movie everyone is talking about, Leave The World Behind.

If you would like to support my work, Travis Impact Fund (TIF) is still taking donations, but my donation button at my about page appears to not be working, so I’m going to try and fix that soon.

Thanks for reading!