the anti-mirror.
anti-mirror (noun): vision of mirrors as a source of psychic alienation
No mirror is more famous than Snow-White’s “mirror of knowledge”. As one of the most symbolic elements of cinematographic history, it represents concepts ranging from Man’s misuse of knowledge, to the solipsistic vanity of self-contemplation and the existential struggle that comes with aging. Most importantly, the anthropomorphic object embodies the paradoxical deceptive nature of mirrors. Indeed, although mirrors are inherently made to portray the truth, our relation to them have turned them into objects of deceit, in particular by promoting the creation of alter-egos. Snow-White’s omniscient mirror is no stranger to this evolution. The Evil Queen believes she sees herself whenever the mirror shows her as “the fairest of the land”, yet this image is only the portrait of the perfect alter-ego she wishes to be. The Queen’s obsession with ensuring she remains the fairest emphasises how she has replaced her identity with the status of “fairest of the land”, an ephemeral identity she holds onto in order never to face who she truly is. In Disney’s 1937 version of the film, the mirror’s only physical trait is a mask, a clear reference to this denial of one’s true identity. The end of the film also highlights the paroxysm of the Queen’s alienation. Faced with the reality that she doesn’t coincide with this alter-ego, she breaks the mirror - its purpose was to reveal only the truths she wanted to be showed, underlining the tool of illusion that mirrors have become at the hands of Man.
“Not to be reproduced” - René Magritte, 1937
How can mirrors be understood as a source of alienation?
When looking into a mirror, we are faced with the external reality of our being. This external representation often clashes with our internal representation of ourselves, leading to a form of alienation. “Alienation” comes from the latin “alienus” meaning stranger - by alienation, we therefore understand the process by which an individual becomes estranged to themselves. This seems like a very rare occurrence, yet it happens almost everyday: when looking at old pictures of ourselves for instance - can we really relate to a toddler-version of ourself? Or does it feel like looking at a stranger?
Using cinematographic/literary examples, I will describe three stages of alienation caused by Man’s relation to mirrors:
1. Taxi Driver - Martin Scorsese, 1976
In this scene, Travis Bickle imitates who he wishes he could see in the mirror, the first step towards alienation by the creation of his alter-ego. The beginning of the film portrays the protagonist as an aloof and lonely character. His job as a taxi driver is paradoxically emblematic of his existential crisis - he is in the driver’s seat yet feels like a passenger, driving passively at night and fantasising about “cleansing” such “filth” from the streets. His character evolves once he decides to take control of his life by becoming the alter-ego he had dreamed of - a stereotypically virile, powerful and thuggish man. The mirror scene represents the birth of such an alter-ego since Bickle quite literally ‘practices’ his new identity. Although the protagonist’s fantasy is disturbing, this type of behaviour is far from abnormal. It is common for people to ‘pose’ in the mirror, practice their smile and even picture on camera the alter ego they have perfected through the infamous “mirror selfie”.
2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - J.K. Rowling, 1997
The Mirror of Erised (Desire) represents the next stage of alienation - the individual begins to confuse whether the alter-ego is real or not. This magical mirror in Harry Potter “shows not your face but your heart’s desire”, meaning it reflects an idealised alter-ego tailored to the viewer. Although this is a magical mirror, its features are very similar to the process of idealisation that individuals go through even with normal mirrors. Dumbledore warns Harry that "men have wasted away before it, not knowing if what they have seen is real", and indeed, Harry visits the mirror multiple times a day, comfortable in the illusion of that alter-ego. The striking point of this scene is that even if Harry might know what he is shown is artificial, he would rather remain in that illusion than face the reality of his identity, introducing a form of psychic self-illusion.
3. Black Swan - Darren Aronofsky, 2010
Black Swan’s mirror scenes perfectly embody the final stage of alienation - the individual becomes estranged, obsessed and trapped in with the alter-ego they have created. Nina Sayers battles the dualism she has to unite within her performance - the innocent White Swan and the Black Swan, its antithesis. She begins to believe the Black Swan is out to get her and the multiple mirror scenes where her actions are not reflected by the mirror illustrate her fractured identity. Nina’s character is of course a hyperbolic depiction of this stage, yet it undeniably still depicts the alienation one gets trapped in when they become too obsessed with an alter-ego they have created. For instance, the phenomenon of body dysmorphia has led many individuals to critical stages of eating disorders because of this discordance between the alter-ego the mirror was showing, and the reality of their corpulence.
To conclude, the objective of this theory isn’t to make you absolutely obliterate any mirror you may own, but to emphasise the power such a common object can have. Most importantly, to understand the dangers of the modern mirror’s rise: social media - an online platform where the creation of an idealised alter-ego is a common occurrence.