Mirror, Mirror story
Horror novelist Jordan Manmouth, known for his huge ego and flagrant dismissal of the supernatural, is soon haunted by a phantom with a misshapen face, which appears in any reflective surface he looks at. Directed by: Martin Scorsese. Story by: Steven Spielberg, Joseph Minion.
13 total · 7 major · 6 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| creative writing | major | Jordan Manmouth was a renowned horror novelist. In one scene, he was interviewed by Dick Cavett about his new novel "Scream Dreams". |
| fear | major | Jordan Manmouth discussed "being scared" with his driver. Jordan was subsequently stricken with terror from being haunted by a nightmarish apparition that appeared in any reflective surface he looked at. |
| hallucination of a non-existing person | major | Jordan thought he saw a disfigured man trying to kill him whenever he looked in a mirror. Since the apparition vanished as soon as Jordan looked away, and since no one else could see it, it seemed like his nerves had just finally caught up with him. |
| monster | major | In one viewing of the story, Jordan Manmouth was terrorized by a humanoid monster dressed in a black fedora and black cape. It had a grotesquely disfigured face, and appeared to Jordan in any reflective surface that he looked at. |
| pride goes before a fall | major | The horror novelist Jordan Manmouth made it abundantly clear that he held no fear of the supernatural monsters found in his writings. Jordan, however, ought to have taken the supernatural more seriously as he was subsequently terrorized by a grotesque apparition that appeared in any reflective surface he looked at. |
| what if a killer was after me | major | Jordan Manmouth believed that someone was out to kill him. |
| wrestling with one's conscience | major | One interpretation of the story is that the disfigured apparition was some aspect of Jonathan's rather vain and callous personality that manifested physically. In the end Jonathan somehow became the phantom that it seemed he had been hallucinating, implying that they were somehow one and the same. |
| be careful what you wish for | minor | Jordan said, and was later chided by Karen for having done so, "I wish I could be scared". He subsequently got much more than he bargained for. |
| cruelty | minor | Jonathan was needlessly cold and callous towards an ardent fan that was pestering him. |
| dysfunctional legal system | minor | A pointed incident in the story was when Jordan tried repeatedly to call with the police but was met with a "all lines are busy" message. |