Thread: Identity Thief

looks like a not well-thought-through movie, i mean, what person doesn't check his bank accounts regularly, what kind of a relatively wealthy person doesn't use lawyers/pi's/police or some hired personnel to find/prosecute the imposter, since when do they rely only on one account/bank to hold their funds, what kind of a professional truck driver just drives through a car left in the middle of the road/highway, etc. - the answer to all these 'questions' is: the one who fits in a low-level script for a likewise lowly movie

there is another thing that can be noticed - this movie works towards strengthening the perception of personal identity importance (as in: bad things happen if you don't keep your so-called identity intact or don't take good care of it or fortify your belief in it), when in fact this 'identity' is merely a label used to differentiate people, its just another description of a player who engages in role-playing activities - this 'identity' won't and cannot describe who you (really) are, it was almost randomly selected around the time of your birth by your parents since it is customary to create an identifying name/surname for every newborn - such a label obviously has (very) little to do with what will become of that individual later on and even less with who that individual essentially is, which means that its proper usage remains limited to the 'material' realm of existence (ordinary/common/usual human interaction/activity) and has no higher purpose (ie. is of no/low essential importance)

@SealLion:

One's name is part and parcel of one's identity...If a person didn't have a name, it is as if they didn't exist.

you're talking about the roles human beings play, thats what they usually understand as 'identity' (characteristics that can be determined while acting as a persona, aka personality in a broader sense), which is commonly accompanied with a descriptive character-name - i'm referring to that which lies buried beneath this false (meaning: imagined, played, entertained, accentuated, enforced, identified!) image or facade

Originally Posted by online dictionary

persona: an individual's social facade or front that especially in the analytic psychology of C. G. Jung reflects the role in life the individual is playing

obviously, one's existence doesn't require a name (for that particular existing entity), so there are numerous existing 'things' without a name (regardless of whether they were named=labeled by humans or not), thus one also doesn't need a name in order to have an identity (an individual image of one's essential characteristics as a unique existing entity), furthermore what nowadays passes as 'identity' is, depending on usage, a combination of personal physical characteristics (weight, height, race, facial characteristics,...), character specifics (behavior, personality & co.) or like in the example above: 'a name'

those physical characteristics are related to your physical body (not 'you'), the character ones are related to how you behave (learned & chosen patterns more or less aligned with those that are socially acceptable in that particular area, in other words its a role one plays, meaning still not 'you', its an imagined & played persona), the name as said before acts like a tag/marker/label (marking you as just another human unit/entity, still not 'you') - it would be no different if one's name was just a number (if fi. 'john milton' was called 0345 9872) or a different combination of words (like gianluca milton or whathaveyou)

in fact, one's whole human 'voyage' is characterized by trying (some more, others less) to find out who (or what) exactly one 'is' and part of that search is realizing this 'identity' falsehood that so commonly and in an almost self-explicable fashion gets used nowadays for defining/understanding who one 'is'

to put it in a different way, when asked: 'who are you'?:
- 'a tradesman' - no, thats what you do, your job, not you
- 'owner of the hilton hotels' - no, thats what you have/own, not you
- 'male in his late 20's,...' - no, thats a description of your body, not you
- 'john milton' - no, thats your name, not you
- 'a human from the planet earth!' - no, thats your (body) species and the location of your body, still not you!
- 'a conscious being experiencing existence in a human body (and i'm also called 'john milton' by others for some practical reasons common in human societies)' - well, thats just about as close as it gets when using language to describe who you are, but this is still just a description, not you!!!

now, one could say: but wait, all of these make you feel like having an identity - sure, but this is what happens when engaging in such activities (like living a life), if you do something long enough you become used to it & attached to it, up to the point when it takes the place of your identity and you forget about your real/true identity which doesn't depend on what you do or what you own or what your name is or similar irrelevant trivialities - your true identity is essential to your being, its equal to your true self, its the only relevant definition of what/who you are - other definitions are merely pale & 'crooked' reflections residing on the surface (ie. superficial, not essential)

A name also has a quality that has some utility to it. Because it's what we call a quality, it is an identification of who you are...you use it to sign things...to identify your tools, your personal belongings, etc.

yes, thats its usage in the 'material' sphere of human activity

One of the few things that a person won't lose in his/her life is his/her name. Other than some legal or even illegal change of name procedure, can you lose your name?? I don't think so.

sure you can, if you decide so (though its not necessarily practical or socially acceptable), in fact you can strip-down and throw away any & every label used to describe your identity as they usually provide only a partial picture, a perspective based one, a specifically chosen one, not to mention how they lead away from essential self-awareness, by providing only superficial insight (regarding one's being)

I do, however, agree with you on the idea that this poorly produced film does strengthen the idea and fact that ID theft is a real and important consideration and that people need to safegaurd it.

sure, for practical/utilitarian purposes, but it doesn't change the fact that this ID is just a piece of plastic that has little to no info on who you really are (what your true identity is), though it may provide much info on certain characteristics of a role-playing character/persona called or known as 'john milton'