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It starts with a moment. In the movie Up, the geniuses at Pixar put us through one of the most upsetting opening sequences of all time. It took only ten minutes to show the lives of the two above fictional characters — a married couple who met when they were kids, fell in love, and grew old together. When she dies, the cute little old man is left alone, leaving viewers like me sobbing.
At the beginning of the Harry Potter series both of Harry’s parents have been murdered by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. His entire life is colored by the fact that he’s an orphan and must avenge his parents' death to save the magical world. In a clever way, J.K. Rowling writes to make the reader see that because he had gone through such trauma as a little boy, he was stronger and more equipped than the other wizards to handle this master task.
Unfortunately, for most of us, our lives and losses aren’t quite as cinematic as these. We are still stuck thinking of an escape plan from a quiet neighborhood or the Dursley’s broom closet. Our stories haven’t really started yet. We haven’t made it past the opening sequence or found a way to activate our origin stories.
