I Am Legend has an Authentic Story
In 1954 Richard Matheson wrote a novel titled I Am Legend based on a world apocalypse where people turned into vampiristic zombies. That’s way cool.
Made into a movie called The Last Man on Earth (the link is to the original movie available for viewing) in 1964, the year I was born, it is one of those classics that has stayed with me throughout my life. It gave me nightmares for years and I’m still a little afraid of the dark. Thanks Mr Price!
In 1971 Charlton Heston was The Omega Man in the second film based on I Am Legend. Better car, sunglasses, lots of guns and way cooler than Vincent. By this stage I was 7 years old… and yes it gave me even more nightmares. But that’s the mark of a great movie when you’re a kid, right?
Now Will Smith is in theatres starring in the third screen adaptation of Matheson’s novel under its original title I Am Legend.
As this film has been out for some time now (this is a remnant of an old half written post) I thought it might still be worth sharing if only to fill people in about the larger story of this movie. I’m currently reading Seth Godin’s All Marketers are Liars: The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low Trust World. He’s right. I’m not buying into the I Am Legend movie itself but the story I’ve created for it over the last 40 years of my life. I’m telling myself a lie that this movie, when I get around to seeing it, will profoundly impact my life. I’m telling myself that The Last Man on Earth and The Omega Man made me into the strong personality I am today. None of it is true at all. I’m the marketing tool in that equation.
What is even more interesting is that I tell myself these lies regardless that the synopsis of the movie essentially stays the same as when I watched The Last Man on Earth. The movie ending is a set in stone conclusion. I’ll still watch I Am Legend regardless of this knowledge about the lie. It won’t change my life at all. There were other more profound movies in my life and childhood. Yet I’m still lying to myself.
Why? Because I Am Legend has an authentic story.
