Dr. Strange opens The Doors
of Perception Wait for it, I...
Dr. Strange opens The Doors
of Perception
Wait for it, I muttered to
myself.
Here it comes: the cameo of
Stan Lee reading Aldous Huxley’s The
Doors of Perception while Manhattan implodes like a 360-collapse of crystal cards.
Comics! The Doors of Perception!
Mysticism and madness! I walked into the multiplex expecting to enjoy two out
of three and walked out with a new appreciation of the power of green screen
and comics to carry a message. I loved it. Safe to say Dr. Strange as a film is
mainly intended for boys of all ages. Still, when I was a young girl I loved
Mad magazine, back then in its original comic book format.
Stan Lee-co created the
character Dr. Strange, which first appeared in a comic book in July 1963. The
Doors of Perception was published in 1954, so there was a gap of about a
decade. During that time, of course, Huxley’s account of his personal
experience upon ingesting psychedelics (in his case mescaline) influenced other
writers and researchers. Interest in mind-altering adventures swelled until by
the mid-‘60s it had swept across the nation.
Flash forward to this month,
when the box-office effect of Dr. Strange was quickly picked up by the
Institute of Noetic Science. I touch on the work of IONS in my book, Aldous Huxley’s Hands: His
Quest for Perception and the Origin and Return of Psychedelic Science.
Dr. Strange, the film, has
kicked up the glittery dust of an ancient trope (fallen character becomes a spiritual
seeker and adept, mastering supernormal powers). This old idea is also the
topic of current scientific research conducted by IONS, which points out in its
November 21 blog (I quote from it here): 1) Dr. Strange learns that ancient
spiritual disciplines can lead to extraordinary feats—and there is scientific evidence
that such engagement can “reveal unusual abilities.”; 2) Dr Strange experience “mind-matter
interactions” and “learns to manipulate the experience of reality.”; 3) after a
debilitating accident, Dr. Strange searches for a healer who “teaches him how
he could heal himself with the power of his mind.”; 4) Dr. Strange, an arrogant
yet shattered man, experiences transcendence, or direct knowledge of a reality
greater than himself, and dedicates himself to helping the world.
Art source: IMDb and Disney/Marvel (see Marvel.com).
Check out the IONS blog
called “4 Science Fiction Topics from Dr. Strange that may be Less ‘Fictional’
Than You Thought” http://noetic.org/communictions-team/4-science-fiction-topics
IONS calls these four “extraordinary human capacities.” Aldous
would call them aspects of “Human Potentialities.”
