My second viewing helped me come to a realization that I had not considered beforehand: Doctor Strange, throughout the course of the film, becomes the most self-actualized superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The tragedy of his origin story is a deconstruction of hubris that may be one of the most compelling in literary history. One of the running jokes among us is that I do not like origin movies, and I stand by that. I hold this opinion because I have read a lot of the comics these stories are based on and am familiar with a lot of the origin stories. Movie studios seem to have caught on to the fact that the general public is familiar with origin stories as evidenced by recent movies such as Spider-Man: Homecoming and Batman V Superman skipping the origins of Spider-Man and Batman respectively. However, it is important to note that characters such as Spider-Man and Batman, who are cultural touchstones at this point, need no introduction. Doctor Strange, an obscure 1960s Stan Lee and Steve Ditko creation, does.
The peace that Stephen Strange finds upon learning the mystic arts is satisfying. As a world renowned surgeon who is supremely arrogant, Dr. Strange loses a great deal of motor-function in his hands due to a car accident. Not only does Strange lose the delicate use of his hands, he loses his identity and sacrifices all of his wealth to find a cure for his hands. However, in his quest to physically fix his hands, he finds his inner peace through learning about the Mystic Arts.
There is a whole plot that revolves around a shadow dimension and Dormamu trying to invade Earth, yada, yada, yada. But the soul of this film, is the transition that Benedict Cumberbatch has from arrogant surgeon to humble sorcerer. Christine Palmer (played by Rachel McAdams) was the only person in the world who saw the good in Stephen Strange from the beginning, and the one belonging Strange has left when he meets The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) is the watch Christine gave him which has an inscription: “Time will tell how much I love you.”
In the end, the story of Doctor Strange is more than cool MC Escher action sequences and trippy kaleidoscope effects. It is the story of finding peace when everything is lost. Of all the superheroes in the MCU thus far, he seemed the happiest and most content at the end.
Alex, you sum this up beautifully: "It is the story of finding peace when everything is lost." I'm generally not a big fan of origin stories, and you, Sandy, and I all seem to have had a greater appreciation for this one the second time around. I like the character background, especially since I've been more exposed to Marvel through the movies than the comics, but they're generally not the movies I will watch again when I see reruns on TV. That's not the case with Dr. Strange. I watch it again when I see it on, and I don't look at it from the superhero angle, but from the human angle. I hear the "feel good" stories of people who use tragedy to their advantage and realize they weren't living the life they wanted, and they change. We saw that with COVID and people being forced to strip away the aspects of like we are told are "normal" and realize what they truly want. It's that idea of losing things to find yourself and to find what really matters. That's what we see with Dr. Strange. And it's sad that it hits home - we shouldn't have to wait for tragedy to force us to think differently and to find that inner peace and happiness and strength. But we as a society do wait for tragedy to shake us out of complacency and to force us to be strong. I'm hoping to change that with myself, and as I am on that journey to find my true inner self and peace, I imagine I will appreciate this movie more.
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