When I was younger, I used to get what I called "flashes." They'd be these very vivid images in the mind's eye of places I'd never been and things I've never done. But somehow they felt right. I remember talking about it with a friend and he likened it to deja vu.
But it wasn't quite like that - even all the way back then, I felt like I was having visions of another reality. A reality that felt more like home. The thing is that whenever I tried to freeze those instants, or come up with some cockamamie explanation for them, they evaporated entirely.
But don't go by me - my brains have always worked wrong. Extremely vivid dreams, hallucinations, sleepwalking, sleeptalking, chemical romancing - I've run the gamut. But a lot of other people have had similar experiences, and more people seem to be talking about it these days.
There's something going on, whether its chemical or electromagnetic, that is leading people to experience time differently, for instance. I've talked about how often I feel like I'm dreaming when I'm out there with the dogs at night. But then again, my dreaming world is so active I don't actually ever sleep. I just go somewhere else.
That said, let's wrap our review of alt.reality entertainments with Everything Everywhere, All at Once. It's a good movie, but it could have been a great one if were about 30 minutes shorter. The constant reality shifts tend to get a bit tiresome at nearly two and a half hours, truth be told.
If you've not seen it, here's the skinny.
- Evelyn Wang, a Chinese-American laundromat owner, discovers she’s at the nexus of countless branching realities—each one sparked by a decision she or others made differently.
- Every choice creates a new universe. There’s a reality where Evelyn stayed in China and became a kung-fu movie star, another where she’s a chef with a raccoon sidekick, and one where she’s a rock in a lifeless landscape.
- The Alpha Universe (the first to master multiversal travel) develops tech allowing people to tap into skills, memories, or traits from their alternate selves by performing bizarre rituals (e.g., eating chapstick or stapling their forehead).
- These worlds stem from pivotal moments—like leaving her boyfriend Waymond or pursuing different dreams—mirroring MWI’s idea that all possibilities play out somewhere.
- The film’s version of the Many Worlds theory isn’t about microscopic particles but about human agency, identity, and the infinite "what ifs" of life.
- The multiverse is dialed up to absurdist extremes and tied to personal choice rather than just quantum randomness.
Again, good but could have been better. It reminds me of a punk or metal band who think a two hour show is heavier than a 90 minute set. It's not. The noise and the sensory overload just get a little exhausting after a while.
But it should be noted that Michelle Yeoh also played in a far, far lesser alt.universe narrative - the shiteous Star Trek: Discovery, produced by some of the same hacks and woke idiots that brought us Fringe.
Philippa Georgiou is a fictional character appearing in the Star Trek franchise portrayed by Michelle Yeoh.The character is introduced as the respected captain of the USS Shenzhou and a maternal figure to series protagonist Michael Burnham.
Beginning in "The Wolf Inside", the eleventh episode of the show's first season, Yeoh portrays an alternate version of Georgiou from the Mirror Universe, Terran Empress Philippa Georgiou Augustus Iaponius Centarius, a despotic and ruthless emperor of the Terran Empire.
Yeoh regrettably got roped into the Section 31 trashfire of a Pride Parade-tier Star Trek LARP, which has almost certainly shoveled dirt on the franchise forever.
The moral of the story is that History will remember every writer and producer who came out of JJ Abrams' fraud-factory as the talentless despoilers who destroyed science fiction film forever.
Wait, weren't we talking about parallel realities/universes? I guess we were.
So let me just say I want to live in a parallel reality where a bunch of poseurs didn't ruin what was my favorite SF franchise when I was a wee wane.
To wash the Section 31 stench out of our noses, here's the second greatest Trek-chik of all time: Barbara Luna from the original "Mirror, Mirror."
I never got the urge to rewatch it, but I did like this alt.realities picture show quite a bit. And this one has a trace of the old MKULTRA kind of thing going on as well:
In the Netflix miniseries Maniac (2018), parallel realities function as a narrative and thematic device, blending psychological exploration with surreal, simulated experiences.The series follows Annie Landsberg (Emma Stone) and Owen Milgrim (Jonah Hill), two troubled individuals who participate in a pharmaceutical trial run by Neberdine Pharmaceutical Biotech (NPB).
- These parallel realities are immersive, drug-induced simulations generated within the participants’ minds, orchestrated by an artificial intelligence called GRTA.
- GRTA uses brain-scanning tech to access their memories and subconscious, crafting personalized scenarios—or parallel realities—meant to help them confront and heal from their issues.
- These realities feel vividly real to Annie and Owen, blurring the line between simulation and lived experience.
- Annie and Owen’s minds inexplicably link, causing them to appear in each other’s scenarios.
- This glitch suggests a deeper emotional bond or GRTA’s malfunctioning empathy, merging their traumas into shared narratives.
Obviously a bit different context than the other parallel reality stories, but it's worth considering that if you believe something is happening -- and experience it as happening -- what really is the difference if it isn't objectively happening?
Finally there's this recent release, which a lot of people tried to get me to watch. Based on the trailer, clips, reviews and interviews I can tell you with utmost confidence that you would have to nail me to a chair to watch this shit.
I'm sorry for being crude here, but I'm just long past this kind of navel-gazing, narcissistic "trans allegory" nonsense:
I Saw the TV Glow follows Owen and Maddy, who bond over their obsession with The Pink Opaque, a Buffy the Vampire Slayer-style show about two girls fighting supernatural forces.As the film progresses, Maddy begins to believe—or perhaps reveals—that The Pink Opaque isn’t just fiction but a real plane of existence. This other world, dubbed the "Midnight Realm" by the show’s villain Mr. Melancholy, contrasts starkly with the suffocating suburban reality Owen inhabits.It’s a place where Maddy claims she escaped to after "dying" in the real world, only to return years later to urge Owen to join her by burying himself alive to awaken there.
Of course, I'm especially offended since that thing misuses the title of the greatest compilation LP ever released...
Either way, I don't have any conclusions about all this yet, just more questions. All I can say is that we may be able to get some clues where this reality we share is headed from some of these stories.
The real question I have about a Twin reality is does it explain deja vu? Does it explain synchronicity? Does it explain when you put your keys down on the counter and then they're gone the next minute and then show up in the same place an hour later?
Maybe we can find out together.
