Netflix’s Living With Yourself

analysis
#121

He’s stuck in a dead end job.
He thinks everyone around him is an idiot.
He’s not getting an recognition.

He’s like Luke Skywalker, he feels stuck and like his life isn’t going anywhere. He wanted all these things, and somehow he ended up here.

Luke isn’t actually stuck on Tatooine, he wants to be fighter pilot. Miles wants to be this great writer. He wants to be recognized.

ETA: New Miles just waltzes in with his happy-go-lucky attitude and charms the pants off everyone (literally and figuratively) and starts getting all the things old Miles always wanted.

#122

Nothing is preventing him from quitting. He’s not stuck.
Idiot thoughts = bias
No recognition… his ideas aren’t being dismissed because of his lack of recognition. In fact his failure to pitch them and understand the work new Miles did is the problem. [quote=“glennbecker, post:121, topic:2652”]
He’s like Luke Skywalker, he feels stuck and like his life isn’t going anywhere
[/quote]

Except Luke is stuck (weakly). His Situation is probably “Darth Vader’s son”. Also, I don’t think he can afford to leave the farm—it would wither without him.

#123

Him being Vader’s son isn’t part of the original Star Wars movie. The farm burns down and he leaves Tatooine at the end of the first act.

Miles could quit and find a new job, but he doesn’t. It’s about status for him. He’s more than happy for anyone else to do the work, he just wants credit for it. Even going to the spa starts because Dan is getting all this recognition and praise at work.

#124

Exactly [quote=“glennbecker, post:123, topic:2652”]
It’s about status for him.
[/quote]

Where do you get this?

ETA: that might be a motivation for him, but that won’t define the Domain all the time

#125

He wants the Golden Pen Award or whatever it was called. He gets upset when he realizes people are going to associate him with new Miles schmaltzy campaign. “I wanted recognition, but not for that p.o.s.”

When new Miles is reporting back to him, it’s all about Did they love it? Was Dan pissed? It’s all about him being the star.

#126

He wants to be the big fish in a small pond. Getting a new job won’t change that.

#127

He doesn’t want the award; he’s annoyed New Miles is nominated. That’s different.

If he wanted to be a big fish, he’d move to a smaller company.

None of what you are saying is in the show

#128

When he’s laying out his life plan to his wife in the flashback, he specifically mentions winning a couple of those awards and moving up in the world.

Moving to a smaller company wouldn’t make him a big fish. He’d still just be another guy. He has no status. He’s not exceptional.

He is absolutely overjoyed when everyone thinks he’s great and pissed when he’s nominated for new Miles’ schmaltzy campaign. He is jealous of Dan being the star employee.

#129

This is the important part of that statement:

#130

It really felt like Tootsie to me, where he wants to be this accomplished actor. Then he starts getting all this recognition as Dorothy, and he’s happy for a while. But that wears off when he realizes, they love Dororthy, not me.

#131

In Tootsie, he’s terrific and opinionated.

In this, Miles is a flat tire.

#132

@Greg

I hope I’m not hogging the discussion here. Did you have any thoughts or are you just hanging back?

#133

Feels like the same coin, different sides.

I’m exceptional, but no one sees it.
I want to be seen as exceptional, but I’m not.

#134

I’ll hop back in when I get more of a chance later this evening. But feel free to keep going down whatever paths you want. Appreciate the check in!

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#135

That’s not enough to pin down a Domain. “I want to be seen as exceptional, but my reputation means people write me off.” <-- that is a Situation. But that’s not what is going on. He is faltering at his job. And, btw, this is barely causing any problems at work. It’s causing problems at home, because his esteem is so low.

I want to keep walking you through why this is OS Universe but I feel like we’ve hit an impasse.

#136

Being the same as everyone else and being in a rut are gists for Universe. I could see being a flop or a dud as working there too. I’m not trying to argue for sake of argument. I hope it’s not coming off that way.

Here’s where I see the impasse.

There is absolutely a Universe problem. I’m with you 100%.

It’s not dealt with. There are still two Miles at the end. The Universe is still out of whack. If we’re evaluating the story that way, there is no storyform. That situation has not been resolved by the end of the season.

If the story of this season is figuring out a way to co-exist or creating a new dynamic, then that is a complete story. Miles adopts new Miles attitude and he’s actually excited and supportive at the end. The marriage finally gets pregnant. They agree to co-exist as parents and become a family.

That’s the success / good / start story I’m arguing for. Everything else is still in play, as far I can tell.

#137

It’s not. I can see you trying to argue this out, which is good.

Ok, yes. But gists are expected to be woven into a storyform.

This is easier to see if you think about Main Characters. If you have an MC who is missing a leg, and they go do do do to make their life better, and keep failing, and then realize at the end that they have to accept their body the way it is… then they still only have one leg, but the problem is gone.

I think this is the story. We are in this broken Universe, how do we deal with it?

And, to repeat, I don’t think they pull it off.

#138

Isn’t this kind of what happens (in a subtler way) with his wife? He realizes she doesn’t need some super successful husband, she just wants happy Miles back. It’s okay that he’s a failure, as long as he’s happy and supportive and loving.

If that’s the story, then they absolutely don’t pull it off.

#139

Yes. But I don’t think this is the OS Goal so I’m not that concerned about it for the moment.

I would recommend not arguing for “Success” when you don’t know what the story goal is.

#140

I don’t either. I was just illustrating a shift from a Universe perspective to a Mind perspective.

I’ve argued for a successful resolution of a becoming goal for the first season. It feels like a success to me but I’m happy to be wrong.

Regardless, if we agree on a Universe OS then we also agree it’s not pulled off. I don’t want to keep arguing in circles around a storyform that isn’t there.

It’s been fun and instructive making the arguments so I don’t think it was a total wash.

I’m going hang back until @greg weighs in. I think we’ve given him plenty to read over. :grin:

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