Wrestling With Shadows

work

1.  (noun): Anything planned to happen, or a “rationalized lie”. The opposite of shoot.

2.  (verb): To methodically attack a single body part over the course of a match or an entire angle, setting up an appropriate finisher.

3.  (verb): To deceive or manipulate an audience in order to elicit a desired response.

"It took me a long time to reconcile myself to the idea that almost all my thoughts weren’t real, weren’t true – or, at least, weren’t mine.

All the things I “believed” were things I thought sounded good, admirable, respectable, courageous. They weren’t my things, however – I had stolen them. Most of them I had taken from books. Having “understood” them, abstractly, I presumed I had a right to them – presumed that I could adopt them, as if they were mine: presumed that they were me. My head was stuffed full of the ideas of others; stuffed full of arguments I could not logically refute. I did not know then that an irrefutable argument is not necessarily true, nor that the right to identify with certain ideas had to be earned.

I read something by Carl Jung, at about this point, that helped me understand what I was experiencing. It was Jung who formulated the concept of persona: the mask that “feigned individuality.” Adoption of such a mask, according to Jung, allowed each of us – and those around us – to believe that we were authentic. Jung said:

“When we analyse the persona we strip off the mask, and discover that what seemed to be individual is at bottom collective; in other words, that the persona was only a mask of the collective psyche. 

Fundamentally the persona is nothing real: it is a compromise between individual and society as to what a man should appear to be. He takes a name, earns a title, exercises a function, he is this or that. In a certain sense all this is real, yet in relation to the essential individuality of the person concerned it is only a secondary reality, a compromise formation, in making which others often have a greater share than he. 

The persona is a semblance, a two-dimensional reality, to give it a nickname.”

Despite my verbal facility, I was not real. 

I found this painful to admit."

Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadow

The Man of Strength hero archetype is further characterised by their tendency to be arrogant, supremely overconfident oafs who are punished and forced to learn to think by submission through trial by ordeal :

• Thor is total oaf who Loki constantly makes a complete fool of.

• Heracles is forcibly humbled by being tricked into being responsible for the deaths of his wife, his children and his best friend, Abderis.

• Samson : Worst Priest EVER....

So there *is* a wrestling connection to the Montreal Screwjob with the finishing submission-Hold — in the documentary, Brett Hart (The Man) maintains that Brett ‘Hitman’ Hart (The Character) never submitted in his final bout against Bad Guy Wrestler Shawn Michaels, which is True.

[Corridor]

(Troi rings the bell of 08-1402 and Timothy opens the door. He's wearing a jumper with a gold body section like a starfleet uniform) 

TROI: Hello, Timothy. Are you ready to go? 

TIMOTHY: Yes, Counsellor. I am ready. 

TROI: How are you feeling? 

TIMOTHY: I am functioning within established parameters. 

TROI: Established parameters? You sound like Data. 

TIMOTHY: I am an android. 

TROI: I see. Well, let's go for our walk, shall we? 

TIMOTHY: That would be acceptable.

[Ten Forward]

TROI: So, what would you like? 

TIMOTHY: Androids do not need to eat or drink. (spots a dessert being carried by a waiter) However, sometimes we like to taste things. A Tamarin frost, please. Would you like anything, Counsellor? 

TROI: No, I'm fine, thank you. 

TIMOTHY: As you wish. 

TROI: So you're no longer a human? 

TIMOTHY: I'm an android. 

TROI: When did this happen? 

TIMOTHY: I've always been an android. 

TROI: What's it like being an android? 

TIMOTHY: I am designed to exceed human capacity, both mentally and physically. But I do not experience emotions. 

TROI: You don't? No emotion at all? 

TIMOTHY: That is correct.

[Ready room]

(Data is included in the meeting) 

PICARD: An android? 

TROI: I know it sounds unusual, but it is understandable. Technically, it's called enantiodromia. Conversion into the opposite. Timothy went from human to machine, from being emotional to being emotionless. But the underlying trauma is still there. He's just found a new way to suppress it. 

PICARD: Counsellor, how long will this behaviour last? 

TROI: As long as he needs it to. Timothy is rebuilding his identity as best he can. The android persona is just one step along the way. As soon as he feels stronger and more sure of himself, it should drop away naturally. 

PICARD: I assume this is not a time to confront him about what happened to his ship. 

TROI: Not yet. The best thing we can do right now is to let Timothy take us where he wants to go. We should support the process and even encourage it. 

PICARD: Data, I would like you to make Timothy the best android he can possibly be.

[Timothy's quarters]

(Data checks his appearance in the mirror, then tries to brush Timothy's hair to match his own) 

DATA: Timothy, your head movements are counterproductive. Can you be still? 

TIMOTHY: But you do it. 

DATA: The servo mechanisms in my neck are designed to approximate human movements. I did not realize the effect was so distracting. 

TIMOTHY: I like it. Data, are there any other androids in Starfleet? 

DATA: No. I am the only one. 

TIMOTHY: How come you're not Captain? 

DATA: My service experience does not yet warrant such a position. 

TIMOTHY: Data, what's the scariest thing that ever happened to you? 

DATA: Fear is a quality that I do not possess. 

TIMOTHY: Because it's an emotion? 

DATA: Correct. 

TIMOTHY: But what if you had a nightmare? 

DATA: I have never had a nightmare. I do not require sleep. Timothy, are you having disturbing dreams? 

TIMOTHY: I do not require sleep. 

DATA: Is that satisfactory? (the hair) 

TIMOTHY: It's perfect.

[Sickbay]

CRUSHER: 

Transfer circuits are functioning properly. 

TIMOTHY: Within established parameters? 

CRUSHER: 

Absolutely. Input processing, pattern recognition, all within established parameters. 

DATA + TIMOTHY: 

Thank you, Doctor.

[Data's quarters]

(They are both painting - Data is doing a traditional pastoral landscape whilst Timothy's image is, well, angry) 

TIMOTHY: 

I ran out of red ochre. 

DATA: 

You may use mine. 

TIMOTHY: 

Thank you.

(yawns) 

DATA: 

Perhaps you should return to your quarters. 

TIMOTHY: 

I'm fine. 

The servo mechanisms in my mouth are designed to approximate human movements. 

(Data tries a yawn) 

TIMOTHY: 

That is not bad. 

DATA: 

Thank you. 

(re painting) 

It is very expressive. 

TIMOTHY: 

Thank you. 

DATA: 

Is your painting representative of something? 

TIMOTHY: 

It's just a painting. 

DATA: 

Timothy, you understand that you may speak with me about anything you wish? Any subject? 

TIMOTHY: 

I understand. 

DATA: 

At times, I too find it difficult to share my thoughts with others.

 I am not always confident that I am expressing myself in a manner which humans can comprehend. 

But do I know that —

(Data sees that Timothy has fallen asleep and carries him to the couch)