We Know His Name, But Is That Who He Is?: Jason Bourne and the Question of Identity

     As a youngster, my friends and I would dabble in homemade movies.  Inevitably, perhaps due to our inability to replicate the kind of quality we saw in the movies we loved to go see in the theater on the weekends, we would fall back on trying to make them funny.  However, having both a penchant for drama and a healthy dose of perfectionism, I took my time trying to absolutely perfect my own script, which I would eventually contribute to colleagues for production, if it had ever left the brainstorming phase.  It was not only my overblown attempts at perfection that delayed pre-production.  It was also that the idea was scrapped when a new major motion picture arrived in the theaters.  As I watched the earliest trailers and read descriptions, my ire grew as I came to the conclusion, "That's my idea!  And theirs doesn't even look funny!"  My idea was a movie about a man with amnesia who, through various incidents of spontaneously discovering his own highly developed set of skills, comes to the realization that he was a master assassin.  The title would have been... wait for it... "Brain-Fart".  The film that killed it was The Bourne Identity.

     This frustration of feeling that Hollywood had beaten me to turning "my idea" into a reality led to my being adamantly against ever watching any of the Bourne movies for several years.  However, it was after the third installment was released that I was finally convinced by friends, who could not believe that I hadn't seen any of them, that I would find them worth watching.  I do not regret things unfolding the way they did because the result was that I had the pleasure of watching the entire Bourne Trilogy straight through for the first time all at once.  However, it was only after watching the first one that I realized that I had discovered a new series to be counted among my favorites.

     So, what is it that I find so intriguing about these movies?  The answer is simple: it is the ultimate action movie form of a story about a man seeking his identity.

     One common ingredient of a truly intriguing mystery is that it often engages the reader/viewer/listener with the question of who everyone is (including, but not limited to, the question of who the "villain" is).  Especially in those mysteries that contain an element of espionage, it often takes the form of "who are you really?" (like Ethan Hunt asks Brandt in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol). Sometimes, you may have a particularly provocative spy respond with something like, "Who do you want me to be?" (like Black Widow asks Steve in Captain America: Winter Soldier).  And then, you have the less admirable figures like James Bond, who consistently use this ability to do and be whatever the situation requires for his own selfish, often impulsive advantage.  In the midst of all this, here comes a man who simply wants to know who he is.  Yet, as the story develops, it invites the further question of "What if I don't like the answer?  Is it possible to change it?"  Thus, it opens up the deeper question: not simply "what is his identity?" but "what is identity itself?"  The big reveal at the end of the second movie - of his real name, David Webb - invites anyone who had not already considered it to ponder who he might have been before he became the master assassin, Jason Bourne.  This is a very fitting turn, at the end of a movie that showed that his attempt to leave behind the old self, which he gradually discovered over the course of the first movie, would not be so easily accomplished as the organization that created "Jason Bourne" will not let him go.

     It may prompt us to ask the question: is it really true that we cannot leave behind the old self?  How can we possibly live up to the great challenge of Saint Paul to put on the new man (Ephesian 4:24)?  Well, the first key to that is realizing that Saint Paul never intended that this be something we try to do on our own.  In the movies, Jason hopes to create a new identity for himself out of the sheer force of his will, violently reinforced by his unique skills.  However, it is striking that the image of his apparent death, which he tries to turn into an opportunity to begin again, is one of drowning, being immersed in water... not unlike the true source of new life and a fresh beginning: baptism.  Thus, it was not an accident that, when St. Paul spoke of putting on the new man, he told us to "put on the Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 12:14), which is possible because we were "baptized into Christ Jesus" (Romans 6:3). Then, we may begin to realize that the question of how we can leave behind the old man does indeed involve the question of how we understand our identity.
   
    Another way of asking the question may be: is there a difference between who I am and who I have become?  Are we defined by our past?  Are we defined by our actions?  If we think deeply about the question we may arrive at the conclusion that there is a sense in which it seems to be true.  After all, isn't this reminiscent of what we believe about virtue?  Isn't it why we work so hard to overcome our bad habits and work to form good ones?  Do we not believe that, over time, our actions form habits, which form our character?  If this is true of virtue, is it not also true of vice?  Yet, we cannot escape the words of Saint John Paul II: "We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures.  We are the sum of the Father's love for us and our real capacity to become an image of His Son Jesus Christ."  The answer to how the first half of the quote is possible - how we can have an identity beyond what comes from our actions - is found in the second half of the quote.  We first become "an image of His Son Jesus Christ," when we are "baptized into Christ Jesus."  This is when we become adopted sons and daughters of God, the Father.  For a Christian, this is our identity, the deepest truth of who we are.  Theologically, we refer to this 'deepest identity' as a sacramental character, imprinted upon our souls through the sacrament of baptism.  The goal of our efforts to grow in virtue - of forming good habits to replace our bad ones - is to allow our moral character to match our sacramental character.  For a Catholic, reinforcing those efforts with prayer and frequent use of the sacrament of reconciliation, which restores us to the grace given to us first at baptism, is the path to becoming a real "image of His Son Jesus Christ."

     So, the question of identity, which has always been central to the Bourne movies, is incredibly engaging for any soul who is seeking to know himself.  Perhaps even without suffering from amnesia, some of us may relate to the striking scene in the first movie, when he is pleading with the 'man in the mirror': "Do you know who I am?... If you know who I am, stop messing with me and tell me." It seems fitting to me that this latest installment is simply called Jason Bourne.  Admittedly, I cannot help but wonder if it was intended simply as a way of reclaiming the series after the recent spin-off, The Bourne Legacy, which was centered around a completely different character.  While I found the character of Aaron Cross to be an intriguing contrast to Jason Bourne, which could bring interesting things to the series, it is good to be reminded who this series is about, simply because it's about discovering who he is.  Yet, at the same time, it is a bit ironic that the name chosen for this new sequel is the name that signifies the old self, which he is always trying to leave behind.  Sure, a movie simply titled "David Webb" probably wouldn't do so well in the box office.  And I'm sure there will be an explanation for why he is now "resurfacing" in his old life.  Perhaps it will be a good reason, perhaps not (but I am hopeful).  Yet, it is striking that he uses the name given to him by those with whom he knows he needs and wants to disassociate.

     Generally, the name by which we are known is given to us by someone.  Sure, one can legally choose a name for themselves, or even attempt to give themselves a nickname (ask George Costanza how well that worked out for him).  But, these are exceptions from the norm.  Usually, we receive our name from our parents.  However, receiving a new name is often very meaningful.  In Scripture, we have moments in which God gives people a new name, marking a pivotal moment in the person's vocation, ranging from Abraham to Simon Peter.  However, the transformation of David Webb into Jason Bourne is of a very different sort.  It more closely resembles the renaming of the prophet Daniel and his friends in Babylon.  As if it were a way of telling them to leave behind their Hebrew origins, they were given new names, inviting them to identify with the land of their captors.  Yet, their Hebrew names were a reminder of their participation in the covenant with the Lord. Not unlike the names given to us by our parents signify our belonging to our family, their Hebrew names signified their belonging to God's family.  A name signifies, not only a person's unique individual identity, but also that they are a part of something bigger than themselves.  Similarly, when David Webb was given the name Jason Bourne, it was as if he was being told, "You belong to us now.  Your old family, your old life - you don't belong to them anymore.  You're ours."  He is given an indication of just how lonely this new life was during his interaction with one of the assassins sent after him at the end of the first movie.  Yet, it is only when he meets Marie, rediscovers relationship, and finally experiences a sense of responsibility to protect the children in the home where they have stowed away, that he finds the resolve to leave this past behind.

       The connection between identity and belonging is one of the most interesting elements of the first movie.  Although he begins by seeking in the mirror to find himself, it is only when he looks outside himself that he finds the answer.  As he searches for his identity, the longing to belong and the desire for a family begin to move to the forefront, culminating with their time with the father and his children.  Yet again, this calls to mind the wisdom of Saint John Paul II, who was frequently reminding us of the insight of the Second Vatican Council, that it is in giving ourselves away that we find ourselves.  None of us are made to live for ourselves, but to make of our lives a gift for others.  This can certainly be understood in light of one's vocation.  A man and woman give themselves away to each other in marriage, choosing to live for each other and for their children.  Men and women answer a calling to give themselves away to Christ and His Church in priesthood and religious life.  Yet, it can also be understood in a more general, day to day sense.  Regardless of our vocation, we have the daily opportunity to choose whether or not we will live for ourselves.  As Christians, we must recognize that these choices determine our effectiveness in leaving behind the old man, in bringing our moral character into line with our sacramental character, to live out our identity as a beloved son or daughter of the Father and a member of the Body of Christ.  Yet, like Jason experiences, our old life will not let us away that easily.  At times, we may even succumb to these temptations, in which cases we generally experience the sickening feeling of losing ourselves.  And when we really allow ourselves to drift far, far away, we realize that we have become something that is not true to the deepest truth of who we are.  But, the call always remains: "Remember who you are and to whom you belong, for whom you are living."  When we answer this call, the One to whom we belong waits to restore us to that identity, through the grace of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

     I suppose it is no surprise that, even after so many years, David Webb finds that he still finds difficulty leaving Jason Bourne behind, especially if his desperate circumstance leaves him still alone.  But, we are not alone.  We belong to Another who is always inviting us home to recall who we are.  May we answer that call as often as we can.    

   

Idea for Bourne 7!