Professor Incognito Apologizes: Response

1. Are there any prominent symbols in the story? If so, what are they and how are they used?

There is a reoccurring character that is mentioned throughout the story, Doctor Kagan, who is a symbol of relationship struggles. He is clearly a couples' counselor and as a symbol he is used to show both the strife that was already prevalent in the couples' relationship and the efforts that Professor Incognito is making to make amends. The whole work is an 'itemized list' of apologies that sound like they would be drafted in a couples therapy session. Doctor Kagan could also symbolize, in some aspect, Professor Incognito's conscience. He believes in what he is doing in regards to everything else in his life, his relationship is the only thing where he has regrets and concerns and is the only thing he is trying to make amends for and change.

2. What connections did you make with the story? Discuss the elements of the work with which you were able to connect.

I personally am currently in a relationship, so this work feels weirdly accurate and true to me. I don't believe that my boyfriend has a secret double life, but the way this text is written so personally makes me feel like I can share in some of the experiences and feelings that Professor Incognito is describing. When in a relationship, one always has a weird sense of closeness and distance to the person they're in a relationship with. At least that's my own personal experience. You're so close with another person that you want to know everything about them and what they think and do, but you also know that they are their own individual with their own lives and thoughts that you will never be privy to. It can be hard to let go of that desire to know someone better, and in a relationship you may know that someone better than anyone else, but you can't possibly know everything. Just like how you can't possibly share everything. And in many situations you shouldn't. People keep secrets and sometimes it's for the best, but there still exists some guilt in keeping secrets from someone you feel like you should be able to tell anything to. There is always a worry that some secrets or feelings are too much or won't be accepted by the other, because no one can know how someone else will react to something. In this way, the struggle Professor Incognito describes with keeping his secret identity and how he both wants to tell but worries about it is very real.

3. What changes would you make to adapt this story into another medium? What medium would you use? What changes would you make?

I think that something that makes this story incredibly personal and powerful is the way that Professor Incognito is talking directly to the viewer; we are Suzanne. If this were adapted simply into a movie or a graphic novel or a play we might lose that personal element of it. I would use virtual reality for this reason, because the story can then remain extremely personal. We can be virtually put into Suzanne's shoes, see the secret lab, and hear Professor Incognito's apology for ourselves. Then, it becomes all about performance. Because the story is told through Professor Incognito's hologram, which we are told is very life-like, the tone and performance of the hologram would be extremely important to push how personal this would feel to us. Eye-contact, so that it looks like the hologram is talking to us is important, as is the emotion behind specific different bits of his apology. Whenever he talks about being a villain, I would imagine he seems more distant and more emotionless, but when he talks specifically about Suzanne or his feelings about her or personal anecdotes about their relationship, he needs to feel like a real person; warm, nostalgic, and a tinge regretful. Those are the moments where the actor or animator (depending on how the VR would be constructed) really needs to convey strong emotion to make the text more powerful than it is on paper.