Fine, interesting post here!
Though I'm afraid I can't be of any specific help to you, regarding what you asked.
Glad to finally meet someone who's more familiar with the myth of Döppelgangers than me. Most people have their one-definition for it, and are unaware this myth knows various incarnations throughout virtually all possible folklores & cultures from all over the world.
Mind you, I never studied mythology or ancient/modern folklore or anything. I just happened to get interested in the subject matter by coincidence, at a young age (first through a course in school that happened to touch the subject, then through stories & movies).
Kind of forgot about it, over the years.
But some time ago - maybe a year or two - the concept got brought up in a discussion again. I remember saying something along the lines like you did ("a Doppelganger is usually an "evil twin" type; meeting one is a bad omen, possibly signaling death."). To my surprise, some people just tried to tell me I was wrong about this and it meant something else. I tried to point out that different cultures have different interpretations of the Döppelganger concept. At least they accepted that as a possibility.
At any rate, it's a fascinating mythology, and due to its various incarnations & widely possible interpratations, it's such interesting material for horror/mystery movies. Sadly, it's under-used and I haven't seen many films actually trying to do something with it.
All the more reason for me liking the recent film The Broken so much.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0906734/
I've discussed this films with some friends already, and - again, to my surprise - a lot of them merely saw another dull take on Invasion of the Body Snatchers, while I saw an interesting and welcome take on the Döppelganger myth....
PS: Thanks for the info & book recommendation
"You! Invaders! Get you the hot bullets of shotgun to die!"
reply
share