Tonight, I was corresponding with a friend online and she got to talking about one of my favorite films, Minority Report. She proceeded to bring up two of my favorite characters from the film, Agatha and Dr. Iris Hineman. She mentioned Agatha offhandedly and delved more deeply into Dr. Hineman. She imagined a life for herself much like Dr. Hineman's. The doctor who has withdrawn from the world at large to tend to her plants and her greenhouse; the recluse. My friend, however, imagined tending not to plants but insects.

I recounted my favorite scene from the film in which Dr. Hineman illustrates the nature of survival:

It's funny how all living organisms are alike.

[The doctor takes one of her genetically modified plants in hand and proceeds to wring the life out of it.]

When the chips are down, when the pressure is on, every creature on the face of the Earth is interested in one thing and one thing only.

[The plant, in the throes of near-death manages to free itself from the doctor's grasp, wounding her hand.]

Its own survival.

I tend to take note of peculiar characters whenever I come across them. When my friend mentioned The Recluse in relation to the world of entomology I was instantly reminded of a video game character from The Legend Of Zelda - Twilight Princess, Agatha, the bug princess. You encounter the character in a side quest that involves collecting "golden bugs" in sets (male & female) to bring to her "ball". Upon delivering a set you're rewarded handsomely with jewels and upgrades to your wallet which in turn allow you to carry even more jewels. When your task is complete Agatha's ball commences and her house swarms with these shimmering, iridescent insects; pill bugs, butterflies, snails, etc. It's quite a sight. And very peculiar. I know I question things more than I should, more than what's considered "normal", so it goes without saying that Agatha has provided ample fodder for me. Who is she? Where does she come from? Where does her love of insects come from? Where does her wealth come from? The significance of her title? Of the ball? I don't know.

Another peculiarity? The name Jasper. That's the name of my sister's pomeranian-chihuahua mix. He's a relatively new addition to the family and I always thought it odd... the name. You don't hear it all that much. Unless of course you watch The Simpsons or read the Twilight series. So I thought it was interesting when the name sprung up again in relation to Children Of Men. I happened to bring up Michael Caine's character in the film, whose name I happened to forget is Jasper (another recluse), when talking about Dr. Hineman. More interesting still is that his character, like Dr. Hineman, is a part of my favorite scene in the film. The scene involves a discussion between Jasper and a main character, Kee. That too I found interesting, Kee, and you would too if you knew me well enough.

Jasper: Everything is a mythical, cosmic battle between faith and chance.

[Offers Miriam a joint.]

Miriam: Maybe I shouldn't.

Jasper: You already did. Take another one. Now cough. What do you taste?

Miriam: Strawberries!

Jasper: Strawberries? That's what it's called: Strawberry Cough!

Kee: Wicked!

Jasper: So. You've got faith over here, right? And chance over there.

Miriam: Like yin and yang.

Jasper: Sort of.

Miriam: Or Shiva and Shakti.

Jasper: Lennon and McCartney!

Kee: [Looking at pictures.] Look, Julian and Theo.

Jasper: Yeah, there you go! Julian and Theo met among a million protestors in a rally by chance. But they were there because of what they believed in in the first place, their faith. They wanted to change the world. And their faith kept them together. But by chance, Dylan was born.

Kee: [Picks up another photo.] This is him?

Jasper: Yeah, that's him. He'd have been about your age. Magical child. Beautiful. Their faith put in praxis.

Miriam: "Praxis"? What happened?

Jasper: Chance. He was their sweet little dream. He had little hands, little legs, little feet. Little lungs. And in 2008, along came the flu pandemic. And then, by chance, he was gone. You see, Theo's faith lost out to chance. So, why bother if life's going to make its own choices?

Kee: Baby's got Theo's eyes.

Jasper: Yeah.

Miriam: Oh, boy. That's terrible. But, you know, everything happens for a reason.

Jasper: That, I don't know. But Theo and Julian would always bring Dylan. He loved it here.

Many concurrences. Many links. Many peculiarities. Chance? Reason? Coincidence? Purpose? I don't know what any of it means, I just thought it was interesting, I just thought I'd share.