The new film, Another Earth, is about the sudden appearance of a new planet, floating in the heavens, not very far away (as pictured).

It is, apparently, a second earth that duplicates our own. They call it Earth 2.

“Who is your other you?” the film asks.

Once more, popular culture, drawing from string theory, among other things, contemplates transformational options and multiple selves.

But it is not just popular culture that cares about the theme. It turns out the writer, star, and producer, Brit Marling, began her professional life as an analyst at Goldman Sachs.

So she knows a thing or two about multiple selves and alternate realities.

Of course, Marling’s earth 1 (investment banking) and her earth 2 (Hollywood) are not duplicates. Being a citizen in good standing in both of them takes an unusual person, real transformational range, and a daunting act of reinvention.

It’s kind of wonderful that after Marling made the transition she wrote this filmic Valentine to alternate realities and the process of moving between them.

[Republished with kind permission from Grant McCracken's anthropology and economics blog, Cultureby.]

Grant McCracken is a trained anthropologist who has studied American culture and business for 25 years. He has worked for many corporate clients including Coca-Cola, Ikea, Kimberly Clark, and Diageo. He is the author of two volumes of Culture and Consumptions, and is set to publish a book called Chief Cultur Office with Basic Books this fall. This new book will focus on how culture no creates so much opportunity and danger for corporations. Learn more about Grant McCracken.