WYSIWYG

Charlie, who wants an identity, declares he is going public to his friend Venezia, who prefers to remain anonymous.

…

Venezia: I can’t understand why. The internet’s a dangerous place. You put your real name up there on your blog and someone might steal it.

Charlie: If I were younger than 50, and had a career at stake, that might deter me. The way I see it, is if you feel confident about yourself, you go ahead and tell the world. This is who I am.

Venezia: I am who I am?

Charlie: Exactly. What you see is what you get. The young don’t want to be older than they are. And old people, mostly, they don’t go around stealing identities. And anyway, people are tiring of avatars and getting more interested in real people.

________

Voiceover

Identity is an issue which constantly arises throughout life. Where did I come from? Who am I now? What will I be in the future?

In real life, and in cyberlife (cyber life? cyber-life? CyberLife?) a single person (or a double person?) can have multiple identities. Charlie finds that too complicated. He prefers a single persona.

Yet in real life (real-life? RealLife?) this may be an illusion that we can exist so simply. We exist in relation to other people. Child to parent. Parent to child. Friend to friend. Employee to boss. SportsPerson to competitor.

Who we are speaking to and which identity we inhabit determines what we say and how we speak.

…