PAPER MAN II

Let me tell you why Paper Man is so dangerous. Everyone, to some extent, wants to be an "us." No one wants to be a "them." We all want to belong somewhere. The 5 foot man and the 7 foot man want to belong. Imagine if someone, call him Ad Man, knew there is no 6 foot man, but pretended that there is a 6 foot man. What if Ad Man pretended there is a "normal" man, and he is 6 feet? The 5 foot man and the 7 foot man would both feel like they don't belong. They would both feel outside of "normal." Both the 5 foot man and the 7 foot man would want to be normal because everyone wants to belong. Now what if Ad Man told the 5 foot man and the 7 foot man, "You can't be 6 feet, you will never really be normal, you will never really belong, but you can feel 6 feet." Both men would say, "How can we feel 6 feet." Then Ad Man would tell them about something and say, "This will make you feel 6 feet." Both men would probably buy it, because they would want to be normal, because they want to belong. They would feel they should be Paper Man. Numbers Man and Seller Man would both think Ad Man is very important. The better he is at making Paper Man seem real the more important he is to Numbers Man and Seller Man.

When Ad Man helps Paper Man speak he is helping Paper Man say he is "us." As soon as he speaks, no matter what his mouth is saying, he is saying, "Hey, look at me. I am 'us'." But Paper Man isn't telling the truth, he's not "us." We're "us." Us real people who live and move and breathe in specifics. We're all just "us," autommatically, by being a person you are "us." That's all there is. Anyone who tries to tell you different isn't telling the truth. So Paper Man, by saying he is "us" isn't telling the truth. But Paper Man can't help it. In someways it isn't his fault. He doesn't exist, he's just trying to be one of us, but he isn't.

Everyone feeling they should be Paper Man is a problem. There is no Paper Man, he is Paper Man. Everyone feels this longing to be something that isn't really there, and they can never be it. It's easy to say everyone should or could be themselves, but sometimes that is not easy, and sometimes that doesn’t feel like enough. Especially when Paper Man is so shiny, and nice, and happy, and popular. Part of us thinks we are, or at least should be, Paper Man. Part of us wants to be shiny, nice, happy and popular with Paper Man. Part of us believes Paper Man when he says he is "us."

Another part of us doesn't believe Paper Man and knows we will never be Paper Man. That is a good thing, because no one can be Paper Man, there is no Paper Man, he's made up. But it's also a bad thing, because if you belive what Paper Man says (that he is "us") and you know you aren't Paper Man, you automatically feel like a "them." Which is sad, because really everyone is an "us." We're all just "us." Autommatically, by being a person you are "us." That's all there is. But Paper Man, just by speaking, is saying he's "us," and if we believe it, we are all "them."

Here's the really sneaky part about Paper Man. Since he doesn't exist, he's made up, Paper Man makes everyone feel like a "them." Everyone, to some extent, feels like a "them." It's kind of funny in a not funny way, because everyone feeling like a "them" makes us all "us'es," which is the way it really is, and Paper Man is the only "them," which is just the opposite of what Paper Man is saying. Weird, huh?