MovieChat Forums > The Booth at the End (2011) Discussion > I think I figured out the man

I think I figured out the man


I just watched a few episodes so far, but it seems that the main character has the ability to see possible futures for his clients, depending on specific roads and decisions each character takes. He is neither good or evil, but uses his gift to allow these characters to reach their goals. It's a story of "fate" and "free will." Anyone agree or have any other ideas?

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From watching the first episode, he seems to be the devil making deals with people. He is essentially leading people to hell by enticing them to do very bad things. Sure these people get what they want but they are selling their souls to do it. Perhaps some of the people who refused to do the task got what they wanted but what's to say that it wasn't going to happen anyway? It seems characteristic of the Devil to try and get these people to do bad things knowing that they were going to get what they wanted anyway.

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He's not the devil. He's one of those superbeings that populate Stephen King's "Dark Tower"-verse that uses his abilities for either good or evil.

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No, some of the things he asks people to do are actually beneficial and good. So morally, it goes both ways. I don't think he can be the devil in terms of an evil force. However, he could be the devil if you open it up to a wider interpretation that paints the devil not as evil, but as having an interest in mankind and a willingness to help him without moral judgement; he could also be a fallen angel or some supernatural entity that's more of a trickster spirit.

However, it's interesting to note that "the Man" often seems horrified by what the people ask him for, what they're willing to do, and the details of how they describe their actions. To me, this seems to put him more in a light of someone truly fascinated by mankind, trying to understand them. It's also evident that the Man doesn't have any control over the book or its powers to make people's wishes come true. He's more of an intermediary for this divine force, bearing witness.

There's also the fact that people's wishes often take them down a winding path that may or may not see them complete their task, give up, ask for another task, etc. It's almost a heightened tool of evolution-- someone quickly learning what is is they are or are not capable of, and what they're willing to do. Sometimes this can turn out to have a "happy" ending for the person.

I suppose a case could be made for the man being an autistic with a heightened understanding of reality-- if the producers ever wanted to ground it in reality. Perhaps the man's autism allows him to see many possibilities, and he's able to predict their desired outcome by performing a task; he can see and understand how the dominoes will all fall and result in their desire. In return, he wants details on their emotional process and a deeper understanding of the situation, because that's what he lacks. But... I don't think the producers will go that way with it. The most recent episode two of Season 2 features a woman asking him about how he got the book-- so that does seem to indicate that there is something supernatural at work, and that it's tied to the book. There's also the case of bringing the woman in season one back to life, and his telling her father "That can happen." But whether or not "the Man" is simply a regular man who stole or acquired the book or is something more, is still an unknown.

I don't know if it will ever be revealed. Sometimes it's best to allow viewers to endlessly and openly debate these things, and it keeps the show relevant, rather than offer up a simplified explanation that will disappoint at least some people. But it will be interesting to see how the mythology about the book is explored this season, and just how many details are revealed. But I will again make note of the fact that the book simply seems to refine a person's true nature and put them in a situation where they become more of who they are, and that the man seems curious to learn more about the extent of human nature from the various people he meets, and often seems upset by their desires or actions, as much as he is intrigued by them or enlightened when he learns something new about humanity from them, good or bad. Nevertheless, he can never turn someone down it seems. Just as all they need to do to get what they want is to perform their assigned action. It's all about the book.

But... it is interesting how, in pursuing a task to get what they think they want, they will learn things about themselves, and sometimes trigger something with their actions, that will cause them to realize what it is they really want, or to reassess their values. They may end up getting what they really want, which may be something other than what they asked for and what they thought they wanted, through the serendipity of the happenstance of them pursuing their assigned task.

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I was thinking he is neither an angel (good) nor the Devil (bad), but more like Mr. Roarke from "Fantasy Island" ( the tv show, not the idiotic recent movie)

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That’s what I theorized as well. He can see how things interact so that he can predict a trigger that will set off a series of events that lead to a desired outcome. In fact, there have already been a couple of characters that were like this in some of the recent rash of super-power shows. The difference is that unlike the other shows, this one is actually interesting.

This theory is backed by a couple of things he has said. For example, he said that there are multiple solutions to most problems and that he only provides one. He has also changed things when circumstances changed. He also seems moderately surprised now and then as though someone did not behave quite as expected (free will can be such a pain).

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The solution to the mystery surrounding the Man in the booth at the end is quite simple! He is just as human as we are and has no special gifts or whatever. The only difference is that he also came to a man in the booth at the end to get a wish fullfilled and his task is to become and be the new man in the booth at the end untill he finds a new man that takes his roll and his wish will then be granted! The paranormal item is the book that gives the holder special powers as long as it is in his/her possession. The mystery will be where does the book come from??? Probably something like the Akasha Library of the Universe holding all the lives of all the people that have ever exsisted and will ever exsist. BTW the next holder of the book will not be a man but a women! Case closed!

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Interesting theory, but I don’t see why he would purposely ask to take over; the job seems more like a burden.

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But it could have granted him immortality, so long as he keeps performing his role?

I get the impression it would be a skewed version; he no longer has a life of his own. Having no life of his own means he can live only vicariously and hence why he is fascinated by the details of the others

... Sanity and Happiness are an impossible combination ...

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I always wonder how he knew what page to open the book to to read the task.

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[deleted]

This theory falls flat as he was able to not only raise someone from the dead, but retroactively concocted a reason for how she was "mistaken" for dead, which ended up killing an innocent girl who was at the hospital for a routine checkup.

She was dead, there was no doubt she was dead. She even remembers being dead. She was resurrected. Only a supernatural power can do that.

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The Man never does anything. You do it all.

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(I have watched only season one.)

It is pretty clear the man has no special powers or knows what will happen to people. He just reads what the task is from the book. He is often surprised or shocked by what people decide, and he always insists he knows nothing and has no special powers. Everything he does that seems impressive comes from his reading the book. He seems just as much of a pawn as everybody else. The only question is why is he doing what he is doing and what put him in that position?

Of course, this is a fictional story. Any deductions we may make are merely based on our assumption that the series writers follow the same "logic" we do, which is a very tenuous assumption. The writers can turn this into whatever they want. There is no true "answer" when it comes to serialized fiction, folks!

God? The Devil? An angel? There is nothing to suggest the writers are setting the story in those particular mythologies other than it is an American television series and these usually pander to American superstitions. SciFi fans may speculate that the man in the booth is an alien, which would fit the facts as well as any other theory.

In any event, whatever the writers actually had in mind when they started the series, it may have changed. Have you ever watched a series where the "bad guy" in series one is reinvented as the "misunderstood and reluctant hero" in series two? Of course you have. That is why it is ultimately a silly idea to think there is an actual answer here.

A television series like this is fiction that is composed partially on the fly. Even the writers do not necessarily know exactly what the ending is or what the "answer" is. They are mainly tasked to keep the series from being canned, whatever that may entail.

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Fiction is a creation of the mind of the writer. If, as hermetic wisdom suggests, individual minds are aspects of the one divine mind, ergo Nous, even fiction is a creation of the Divine Mind. God has a dream. In his dream, Istlota is a dream character who imagines a work of fiction entitled the booth at the end. But, ultimately, even that work of fiction is from the mind of God, aka Nous.

Is Nous God or devil? Or both, or neither?

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istlotaeveryman: "Fiction is a creation of the mind of the writer. If, as hermetic wisdom suggests, individual minds are aspects of the one divine mind, ergo Nous, even fiction is a creation of the Divine Mind. God has a dream. In his dream, Istlota is a dream character who imagines a work of fiction entitled the booth at the end. But, ultimately, even that work of fiction is from the mind of God, aka Nous.
Is Nous God or devil? Or both, or neither?"

"If, as hermetic wisdom suggests, individual minds are aspects..." etc.

Well, what if they are not? There is only one thing that can possibly tip the scales one way or the other and that is verifiable evidence, for example an interview with the scriptwriter about the show. Or an interview with you about your fiction of "Istlota".

If. There's the rub. People all over the world have very different "ifs" they prefer for whatever reasons.

Having now seen the entire show, my best guess is that the Man is a MacGuffin, a scriptwriter's device, ultimately meaningless, that is used to drive the story or drama forward, like the golden glow coming from the briefcase in Pulp Fiction.

The Man allows the viewer to speculate and thereby creates some intrigue but the real drama is actually the stories of all the people that visit him. Each person is very different and has very different circumstances. That is where the real drama is: how will they surprise us? What are the details of their no doubt unique story? Who the next person is going to be is precisely interesting because we know we are in for more surprises. That is how the show works.

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You have no grasp, not the slightest, of a word I typed. This is a constant problem I run into when I, the Man, attempt to communicate with you mortals. You are fools who think they are wise. And the proof of your wisdom, in your mind, is how completely divergent from my mind yours works. Being fools, you conclude this can only mean that you are right and that I am mad. I speak to you of the wisdom of millenia past ... Plato, Hermes Tresmegistus. And it all rolls over you like water off a duck's back.

So I humor you. You want to be prettier? You want to hear God? You want to date a supermodel? No problem. Complete the task. Then you get what you want. I invent ridiculous tasks. Rob a bank. Blow up a restaurant. Get impregnated by a stranger. Murder a child. And no matter how insane I make the task, you agree to do it!

I watch you, coming into my booth, thinking you have the Man figured out?

MAN, KNOW THYSELF.

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You have no grasp, not the slightest, of a word I typed.


First, the Man never typed anything. Otherwise, a pretty nice caricature of the Man. Well done.

I just disagree, though. The scriptwriters are unlikely to agree with your version of their character. The chances are they are far more practical. They write stories for their bread and butter. Writers use known techniques to engage an audience. There is no reason to believe anything more than that is going on in this show. People take television far too seriously.

P.S. One common technique is to write something in a way that persuades the audience there is more there than actually is. To get the audience to assume the story is far more profound than actually written. The audience's imagination does 90% of the work after being primed by certain ideas, after their "buttons" have been skillfully pushed. It is a neat trick when it works and gets the writer the most "bang for buck" because the profundity of a narrative is only ever greatest in the mind of the receiver.

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Let's try this again.

Key important point I made, which is conceivable to you, is that I, the Man, only _appear_ to be a fictional character who the writers invented. Thousands of years ago, we (the wisest of men) cognized the error of that way of thinking. Since then, others have carried that torch. You, the mortals who visit my booth at the end, only think you have free will. Again, key analogy, this is all a dream which I, the Man (think of me as your imperfect concept of God) am dreaming. You have no more free will than any other dream character has. Your will is, can only be, what the dreamer dreams it to be.

This depth of Advaitic nondual thinking is difficult for fools in the west to grasp because you do not know Self. You think you are the doer which is impossible. There is no individual you. There is only I am. I am that I am.

The Man is,
Thou art that,
All else is Maya.

But, being fools, this imaginary ego who you mistake for Self thinks it is the doer. So I mess with that ego's head.

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Thats an interesting theory

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He's a time-traveler and scientist. something bad happened in the future, he's balacing the world what it is has to be. there are many ways to do it, so it's not a specific mission. --- just maybe think about it :)

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This is why the message boards should not be closed down!! Because of debates exactly like this!!

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Yes!

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