Dr. Strange is a Marvel Superhero set in the Avengers Universe. The Marvel Comics Universe (MCU) has rolled out a fair number of movies in these past years. Dr. Strange is one of it’s top grossing hits for a single Marvel super hero (beating Iron Man, Ant Man, Thor and Hulk).

Some success of this movie is partly due to the brilliant acting by Benedict Cumberbatch, who excels in playing roles which have a strong character. Dr. Strange as a character is just that … before as a neuro-surgeon and after as a mystic wizard, both the characters have very specific nuances, and Benedict Cumberbatch effortlessly brings them to life.

Not just a movie review

However, this post is not just a movie review. It’s a take on how Dr. Strange uses mental models to defeat his heroes. These mental models aren’t the magic (like how during the titles, Thor’s beer glass is filled again), but these are very very real.

Let’s take the most powerful mental model that was used by the good Doctor. It was that of a victim.

“The Victim” as a mental model

** SPOILER ALERT **

In the first half of movie, the hugely successful neuro-surgeon undergoes an accident that renders his hands useless. He see’s himself as a victim of his circumstances, and he starts shunning his friends and romantic interests away in his frustration. This is the time when he chances upon the Ancient One and subsequently embraces the learnings.

This illustration might be missed by a lot, however the next one of the Victim cannot be missed by anyone since it involves the grand finale and face-off of Dr. Strange v/s the supereme being Dormammu.

Dormammu

Incidentally, the voice over and the face of Dormammu is also played by Benedit Cumberbatch. The rationale behind this being that a supreme being such as Dormammu mimics Dr. Strange to put him off balance.

In the MCU, Dormammu is a god-level entity with huge powers. Powers using which he can destroy the current universe as it is and consume it entirely. Let us pause and digest this … this is a bad-ass, powerful villain. A god who can consume galaxies and destroy the known universe.

The Victimization of Dormammu

Dr. Strange has learnt to control the flow of time using the Eye of Agamotto. He can create time loops, go forward in time and pause time – among other things.

In the grand finale, Dr. Strange traps Dormammu in a simple time loop. Thus trapped, Dormammu tries to take his frustration out on Dr. Strange in a million different ways, however, the time loop keeps snapping back in place and ensuring that Dormammu cannot destroy the Earth.

Suddenly, the all powerful being who can destroy universes, is now stuck in a time loop. He is unable to get out of this loop. Thus, he is powerless to do anything. He is a victim and he has been effectively victimized by Dr. Strange.

Do as he may, he is stuck in that time loop for ever. He gets to kill Dr. Strange every once in a while, but that’s about it. 5 minutes later, the loop resets and he is back where he was, trying to understand what just happened.

This feeling of desperation … of being completely helpless, is the Victim mental model. It’s a disabling construct, since once an individual (even as powerful as Dormammu) accepts that he is a victim, then that individual gives in and stops postively engaging with his environment.

What could’ve Dormammu done?

Well, he has an eternity to figure out the Eye of Agamotto. He could have taken that and spent some time trying to reverse the effects. This is what Dr. Strange finally does to release Dormammu in exchange for sparing Earth and the universe.

What Dormammu (and other victims) do not realize is that the solution of their state is in their own hands. It’s just that the victim needs to shift from the disabling mindset of being a Victim to the one of being a Creator of their own Destiny.

Here’s an interesting read on Reclaiming your intentionality – From a Victim to a Creator of your own Destiny.

Disabling Constructs

The reason I refer to this as a disabling construct is because there is nothing new that’s created in victimhood. What is done is that a new state is introduced in the mind of the user. A state which disables the user from any action.

There are several such constructs which disables people. Victimhood being one of them. Another prime such example is the concept of Destiny. It deserves it’s own post.

The true wizardry of Dr. Strange was to recognize these constructs and apply them in the right moments.

At a recent meeting where the think tank team of a large organization were talking about branding, I got to attend an extremely riveting talk by an ex-Ogilvy guy on his thoughts on branding.

The organization was thinking about how to go about building a sharper identity and brand. Instead of talking about the multitude of issues that were unearthed and what transpired out of those discussions, I’d like to talk about one of my key takeaways. Building a brand that supports a larger cause …

#LikeAGirl Campaign

Before I go on, here’s a kickass Ad Campaign

This video was created by P&G Always, go ahead read through their Epic Battle. Here’s a gist of their larger cause –

72% of girls DO feel society limits them — especially during puberty — a time when their confidence totally plummets. Always is on an epic battle to keep confidence high during puberty & beyond.

The way the Always brand has looked beyond itself and targeted a larger cause is to be respected. I am pretty late in seeing this ad, but it does one think.

Brilliant Idea, Flawless Execution

What has me raving more than 9 months after the ad was aired for the first time, is the way in which this video was shot. Directed by award-winning filmmaker Lauren Greenfield (Queen of Versailles), the shoot features a fair amount of celebrities as well as children of different ages.

The ad was aired for the first time during the Superbowl, which would make one think twice about the bold decision to talk about a feminine product. Though this was perfectly tackled by cutting to screen Sport Illustrated’s swimsuit model Erin Heatherton in the first scene.

Erin is also a Victoria’s Secret model angel, thus making her the right choice for the first scene in this ad. I like to think that the casting did that much thinking through (SI would have a primarily male audience, VS would be female audience).

The video first starts with Erin, but then you have other people being interviewed and smartly questioned by Lauren about what does it mean to do things ‘Like A Girl’.

The realization hits you when the boy kinda figures it out on screen that he has been insulting all girls (including his sister). The campaign also goes on to tell you on how we can change our perception of this term … they nailed it #LikeAGirl.

History is written by the winners. It’s quite possible that the then documented history is through the eyes of the winning side.

Reading Mahabharata, one would naturally assume that Duryodhana was an evil prince who oppressed his subjects and was extremely conniving in nature.

Ajaya challenges this world view and paints a more neutral picture of the villain. Suyodhana (that was his given name) is shown to be an extremely rational and compassionate human being. That he did not choose to follow the laws of the land (dharma) is what caused his downfall.

Mahabharata Retold

Everyone knows that the Bhagvad Geeta is part of this great epic. However, what is so epic about this epic, is that both the sides of the battle are equally right and equally wrong.

If scriptures and the rules of religion (dharma) are to be followed, then perhaps the Pandavas were correct. However, if you look past those rules (the same rules which were broken and abused by both the armies in the great war that followed), then you will not see good and bad, you will see both sides as being good and both as being evil.

Keep in mind that this is one of the largest works in the Indian mythology with artifacts of this story all over the country. Right from the North to the very South do we see different aspects of the epic.

The new perspective puts a lot of things which were taken for granted as the divine workings of god into the realm of scientific rationale. For example, the astras that Arjuna and Karna use in the war have been nicely explained.

Good guys might finish last

The story is re-told from an unbiased view and your heart does go out to Suyodhana, who happened to be in the wrong company at the right times.

My interest in Historical titles was piqued by books such as Alexander, Mahabharata, Ramayana and Camelot. However, when I saw Constantinopolis by James D. Shipman, I knew I had to read through this book.

Settled between Europe and Turkey, Istanbul (the erstwhile Constantinople) is right between the crusaders of Europe and the Ottoman army. The tale of Constantinople and its eventual fall at the hands of the Ottoman empire makes for an interesting story.

The Prelude to Constantinopolis

The author does a good job of explaining the history behind the fall of Constantinople. The reason behind Mehmet’s (the then Ottoman emperor) hunger for taking on Constantinople. The reason behind why the Vatican sent such a meagre force to help out the besieged city. The explanation of King Constantinople and the daily frustrations he faced in holding the Ottoman empire at bay.

The Siege

People know of the Trojan War because of the horse, the malware and the movie. However, this tale bellies the same upheavals (if not more), the entire siege had both the sides teetering on the brink of destruction and coming back up to save the day to fight again.king

Sieges take time and well defended cities take months to fall. Likewise even this city which had some of the most formidable defenses took 6 months to finally fall in the hands of the Ottoman Turks. It’s not as if the Ottoman war machine was running in perfect synchronization.

They had their own set of problems, and the politicking within the large empire was subtle and this victory ensured that Mehmet become the all powerful emperor that he was destined to be, surpassing the feats of his father who was loved (and feared) by all his people.

Not just a Story, but History

All in all, the book is not just a tale, but also tells us the truth behind the events that led to the great city’s fall, and the subsequent rise in the Ottoman empire’s impact on Eurasian trade. If you love historical tales, do not forget to pick up this book!

Last month, I read 6 books – thanks to the Kindle Unlimited library I had subscribed to. Ample food for thought for some book reviews. I would have loved to go through some classic sci-fi books, however, I chanced upon some historical and mythology books, one of them being The Mahabharata Quest.

Since I had already read through a series of books on Alexander, and was thoroughly piqued to see how Mahabharata is related to Alexander.

Turns out, it wasn’t! Read on to know more :)

The Mahabharata Quest

The Mahabharata Quest is a previous hit book by the same author, and it involves the same characters in another sequel.

The great thing about this book is how the author has interwoven the past and the present into one coherent novel. The book is about Alexander’s declaration of being a god (son of Zeus-AmmonRa), and how his prowess in battle could be attributed by scientific reasons.

I will not divulge into much details here, suffice to say that I started reading this book to see how Alexander is related to Mahabharata. Turns out the plot characters were connecting the two books. The good part about the book is that the author has done an excellent job of keeping a fast narrative and has the readers interested through the book till the end.

Yes, there are parts where the scenes seem to Bollywood like, but that’s entertainment for you. No, I am not a grammar nazi and I won’t complain about the bad English. If I can read C’Bag, then I might as well pay homage to the rest of the Indian authors.

Give this book a read, you might just enjoy it! Please keep in mind to not nitpick about mythology and history being intermingled like this, the narrative style is fast and something that I thoroughly enjoyed.