The Prestige – Perception and identity IntroductionThe Prestige is a 2006 film directed by Christopher Nolan. The background is set in London at the end of the 19th century. Rupert Angier (played by Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (played by Christian Bale) are originally a magician's wiles. Angier's wife drowned in a show and he blames Borden for it. Since then they have been rivals and began their careers as magicians. Angier becomes "The Great Danton" while Borden becomes "The Professor". They try to sabotage each other's show. Borden loses two fingers in a bullet-catching trick while Angier loses some cred in the birdcage trick. Borden later begins performing a new trick called "The Transported Man". Angier is impressed and obsessed with finding out how Borden does it. But little does he know that Borden simply does the same to his twin brother, which Angier (and everyone else) is unaware of. Angier sends his assistant to discover Borden's secret but she falls in love with Borden's brother (the twins share the same identity). Together Borden and the assistant trick Angier into giving him Borden's notebook, telling him that the key to the secret is an inventor called Tesla. Angier believes it and begins the journey to find Tesla in America. Out of Borden's expectations, Tesla builds a car for Angier. The machine can create duplicates of anything you put into it. Angier then returns to London and begins a trick called "The Real Transported Man", in which Angier disappears into the car and reappears at the back of the hall. In reality, Angier falls into a water tank from the car and drowns while his duplicate appears and ends the performance. In one show, Borden appears backstage to find out how Angier does his makeup and... middle of paper... people, study a subject because parents want it and we pretend to like it. but in reality we don't. We still choose to do this because we want to meet our parents' expectations. The sacrifice is that we lose the chance to learn what we truly enjoy. Sometimes we may not want to do this. It is better for us to be the real “me”. We are not who others think we are. Let's not let others decide who we are. We choose to be who we are and who we are. (Word Count: 2890) Reference1. SparkNotes Editor. “SparkNote on Meditations on First Philosophy.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. nd. Network. May 12. 2014.2. René Descartes. “Meditations on First Philosophy”.3. SparkNotes Editor. “SparkNote on Essay Concerning Human Understanding.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. nd. Network. May 12. 2014.4. John Locke. “Essay on the human intellect.”