The Media That Made Me

Or, the top ten things that have inspired me to date, both creatively and personally. I'll try to list them chronologically instead of assigning rank.

1. Back to the Future (Doe-Eyed Little-Boy Adam)
For one, I idolized Marty McFly as a child. I'm not sure why. Probably some combination of his skateboarding skills, his cute girlfriend, his denim jackets, and his biting sarcasm. For some reason, those traits appealed to me at the time.

Further, Doc Brown introduced the concepts of time-travel and science fiction to me at an early age. It's probably why I'm such a dork now: how else could an 8-year-old pondering the Grandfather Paradox turn out? Perhaps it was destiny: according to my mother, this movie was the last one she saw before giving birth to me in 1985. I think I may have overheard the Doc screaming about the Space-Time Continuum while I was in the womb.

2. and 3. Myst and Riven (Dorky Pre-Teen Adam)
Yes, they were computer games, I admit it. But they were so much more than that to Pre-Teen Adam. These were fascinating worlds that I could explore, complete with mythologies and histories and civilizations lost. In Myst, for example, you start off stranded on a tiny island full of weird buildings. There's no narration. No instructions. No missions. No levels. You just had to wander around and figure stuff out.
By the time the sequel, Riven, came around, I had read the three novels that explained the background mythology for the games' universe, and I was hooked. If you think I'm obsessed with Lost now, you should have seen me during my Myst days. Overall, the games really instilled a sense of wanderlust and adventure in my adolescent soul, a desire for exploration and investigation.

4. Jurassic Park (Awkward Middle-School Adam...Yikes)
It really wasn't about the dinosaurs. Honestly. It was the sheer power the film had over me. I felt like I was on that island, standing right in front of those things. To this day, I think those are the best visual effects of all time. You can watch a VHS copy of Jurassic Park taped off of cable today and those dinosaurs STILL look real. It was how I originally fell in love with Spielberg and movies in general. Plus it introduced me to Michael Crichton, whose books I read voraciously afterwards.

5. The Last of the Mohicans (Blossoming High-School Adam)Other than instilling a vivid sense of I-Wanna-Go-Hit-Some-Bad-Guys With-A-Hatchet-I-Just-Made-From-Scratch in me, I think I really owe this flick for inspiring a sense of awe and respect for nature. Especially after I went to Chimney Rock in North Carolina where they filmed a lot of the third act. I probably owe my love for hiking, orienteering, and camping to Michael Mann. This is still an amazing movie that anyone should see, especially fans of Daniel Day-Lewis.

6. The Magus by John Fowles (Naive College Freshman Adam)
Still my favorite book of all time. A young English teacher travels to a little-known Greek isle to take a new teaching position, and wanders onto a mysterious, wealthy old man's property one afternoon. The 700-page epic is the most confusing, thrilling, and rewarding story I've ever encountered. I re-read it about once a year, and I still don't know exactly what's going on. Do yourself a favor and check it out on wikipedia.

7. No Death, No Fear by Thich Nhat Hanh (Jaded College Sophomore Adam)
This was basically my introduction to Buddhist philosophy, which is not so much a philosophy or a religion so much as a way to perceive existence. Written by "Vietman's Nelson Mandela," it introduces Westerners to a knew way of looking at the world. Nothing is permanent, everything is constantly changing, and our misunderstanding of this principle is what causes the majority of our suffering. You can find this lifesaver in just about any library or bookstore. Just about any of Nhat Hanh's books will change your thinking for the better, and you don't have be a Buddhist or religious to grow from them.

8. The Hero With A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell (Headstrong College Junior Adam)You'll never read a book or watch a movie the same way again after reading a Joseph Campbell book. Drawing from mythology, Campbell describes the basic, stage-by-stage journey, the monomyth, that all heroes make and compares it to modern stories like Star Wars. As a writer, this was obviously enlightening and changed the way I approached creativity. It sounds simplistic on the surface but it's not about a formula, but a form.

9. Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl (Wiped-Out College Senior and Disillusioned Graduate Adam)Written by a psychiatrist who survived the Holocaust, this book helps you understand the inherent meaning in human life, regardless of circumstance. I think I've already read it five times. In a postmodern world where more and more people are experiencing an "existential vacuum" (Why am I here? Why do I suffer? Why must I die?), Frankl's words are full of hope and encouragement. "He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how." This book gives meaning to even your worst suffering, which makes it much more bearable.

10. Lost (Doe-Eyed, Dorky, Awkward, Blossoming, Naive, Jaded, Headstrong, Wiped-Out, Disillusioned, Present-Day Adam)
What would this list be without Lost? It's emotionally involving, intellectually challenging, and brilliantly executed. And it's kind of a combination of everything else on my list that came before it. And for those of you, like myself, who feel a bit "lost" in the jungle of your life, Lost is a reminder that you're not alone.

Conclusion: I must be obsessed with islands (Myst, Riven, Jurassic Park, The Magus, Lost).