Clones All the Time

The subject of clones has been coming up too much in my life in recent moment for me to ignore. I half-wish God would insert a literal clone in my life for various reasons, but that might cause more problems than solve them.

Here’s a numbered list, in no significant order, of related things.

1. If my clone appeared, I would play chess with him, then possibly arm wrestling. I’m average at both, but so is he.

2. Another Earth is about an exact replica of Earth that appears in the sky, and the girl (Rhoda) who forms a relationship with a man whose family she killed in a car accident. She was set to attend MIT for astronomy, but her incarceration derailed that opportunity entirely. Minor spoiler: it’s discovered the people on Earth Two mirrored those on (our) Earth One exactly, up until the moment the two Earths observed each other. The accident occurred when Rhoda was trying to look up at Earth Two in the sky while driving. What do you think happened to the Rhoda on Earth Two?

3. Melancholia was released the same year, about a estranging wife and her family that deal with the titular planet that existed on the opposed side of the sun, but is now on a course to pass, or collide, with Earth. It’s much less open ended the way Another Earth is, but Melancholia is somewhat of a metaphor for depression, so unless you keep that in mind, some of the plot point might confuse you. Melancholia also boasts a fascinating 8 minute prologue, comprised of music and slow-motion visuals, that acts as an overture for the entire plot arc of the film, using the prelude from Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde. It comes off as very influenced by Kubrick, like the prelude for 2001, that still haunts me when I watch it, but with…what is really the opposite of a blank black screen.