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Writer's pictureArda Eşberk

Simulation Universe-2: Who is the Author of the Script?


"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players..." (William Shakespeare)


When we explore the parallels between the mathematics of cinema and our lives, could this hypothesis become our reality? In 'Simulation Universe-1,' the previous article where we posed these questions, we continue to examine the answers from a cinematic perspective.

In cinema, the most crucial element is the script. The script is the roadmap of the protagonist that reflects the writer's desires, life experiences, and dreams. In trainings I conducted at institutions like the Capital Markets Board and Doğuş Holding, and in acting classes, there's a question I often ask: "If our life is a film, who is the writer of this film?" What is your answer?

The scriptwriter has certain obligations. The first of these is 'space/time.' The writer is the one who creates the location where the events take place and determines their time. In films like Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings, it is the writer who creates the fantastical worlds. Are we the ones who create our own script, defining the house we live in, the city where the house is located, the country or the world in which the city resides?

The second responsibility of the writer is to determine who will come together in a given space and time. In media programs that critique reality, such as 'The Truman Show' (1998), starring Jim Carrey, where every stage of life is a fabrication, our protagonist Truman's every detail from what time he wakes up to how he goes to work and whom he will encounter has been predetermined by the scriptwriter. Until he encounters the actor playing his deceased father

by chance according to the script... Can we predict whom we will encounter on the street today and how these encounters will impact our lives?

The third obligation is the responsibility of the writer to determine which emotions the protagonist will feel in the face of events. In 'The Truman Show,' our protagonist Truman is afraid of the sea because according to the script, he lost the person playing his father in a storm at sea. Therefore, his feeling towards the sea is 'fear.'

The fourth obligation is the character itself. It is the writer who forms the identity of the character in the script. I have elaborated in detail on how little influence we have on the development process of the character in my article 'The Mask of the Character.'

If we are not the ones who create space, time, people, events, and characters in our life script, then it seems difficult to say that we are the writers ourselves!

Sometimes I experience interesting events in Arda's scenario that remind me of the fictitiousness of life. Such striking coincidences that I would say the writer has exaggerated this in a film... One of the most striking of these coincidences is related to the 'space' choice of my scriptwriter.

After years of searching, I came to Istanbul in 2002 to attend the international conference of the yoga system I met. The yoga center was on the first floor of an apartment building in the Teşvikiye neighborhood.

Years later, in 2012, I started my master's degree in cinema and acting at Kadir Has University. One of my courses was on scriptwriting, which I somehow couldn't attend. My teacher called me to his office to make up for the missed class and get my grades. It was my first encounter with the concept of 'The Hero's Journey' in this office. The address was the second floor of the same apartment building in the Teşvikiye neighborhood.

In 2017, I mentioned my book 'Will You Be My Role Mate?' to Nur Saul Barakas, who was interested in the topic and wanted to interview me. When we came to Şalom Newspaper for a photo shoot, I couldn't believe my eyes. Because the newspaper was located on the third floor of the same apartment building in the Teşvikiye neighborhood... When I met with the Editor-in-Chief İvo Molinas after the photo shoot, I received another offer that would change my life, and it was happening on the top floor of the same building: becoming a writer at Şalom!

Three important events that changed my life, all happened in the same building! The fictionality of life and whether we are not the writers, whether we are not free, or whether we have the right to make choices does not necessarily mean that. In this case, both are valid; we are both free and not. But our freedom is only as much as the freedom of an actor trying to play their role in the given conditions of the script!

What matters is to recognize the traces and signs and understand what the writer wants to tell us through this script. Just like Truman realizing that something is wrong and starting to search for the truth...

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