The Image as Eternal Life and Death: Uncanny visions in Harry Potter, Life on Mars and Doctor Who

Abstract

The specular self has evolved through literature from the Victorian era, transforming from the familiar form of the doppelganger, to the uncanny image that is depicted in popular culture such as J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter sequence (1997 – 2007), the television series Life on Mars (2006 – 2007) and particular episodes of the ‘new’ Doctor Who series (2005 – present) that centre on ‘the Weeping Angels’. These narratives attempt to see beyond the frame, into a space where – in the corner of one’s eye – lurks the paradox of the (moving) image. The image, whether it is a moving portrait or photograph, a living memory transformed into a separate world, or an object that results in death the moment you look away, is intended to represent a second self and space that exists outside of time. It also acts as a metaphor for eternal life after death, but when one looks beyond the frame, it is revealed that the image translates as death. Death – or the space between the image and death – as it is depicted in these narratives then presents a paradox because it exists – must exist – and yet, cannot exist because it re-creates itself – an act of life – through more death. In this paper I shall examine how the Harry Potter sequence, Life on Mars and Doctor Who are providing a commentary on the image as it functions in popular culture, and how the image offers a form of eternal life, but only through the act of death.