Captured thought: Do we create the things we need?

About a week ago, I was reading an article which presented the theory that the characters of Ferris and Sloane in Ferris Bueller's day off were figments of Cameron's imagination. The author suggested that Ferris represented the man Cameron wished he could be, popular, lucky, easy going, and Sloane was the woman he wanted/needed in his life. Based on Cameron's outburst in his fathers car and a majority of his mannerisms, it can be deduced that his character was suffering from some major mental health disorders. Looking at the movie this way completely changes the theme and message, but the author argued that this may not be such a bad thing. If we see the characters as somewhat of a mental crutch that Cameron creates to help him overcome a challenge, then the movie becomes more powerful and raises more questions for discussion.

After reading the article I sort of pondered over what is said but as days passed I forgot about it and the message became nestled somewhere in the back of my brain. Then one day when we were sitting in class talking about Orlando, the concept of memories was brought up, which reminded me of the brain, which reminded me of the article. I remembered Mr. Allen commenting that Virginia Woolf had suffered from depression and other mental disorders, when suddenly something clicked. What if Virginia Woolf had created Orlando to express a part of herself she couldn't otherwise or to deal with something she wasn't sure how to handle? Until now, Orlando had been just a book for me, a wonderfully fantastic book that was doing far more than simply holding my interest, but a book none the less. With the introduction of this new theory, the book became so much more, it became personal. 

Do our minds create the things we need to persevere?  Do we seek people with qualities we lack? Do we select things to fill our gaps? After thinking about both of the previously mentioned examples I decided that the answer to all of these questions is yes. More so though, I hoped and wanted the answer to be yes. When we think of things as being a sort of diary for the creator or a tool to fix what they believe to be broken, so much is added to what we are able to perceive. By understanding that everything around us meant so much more to someone else, it can then mean more to us and in the end this will help us discover more than ever thought possible.