Plate. Or Shrimp. Or Plate o' Shrimp

Diving into the lattice of coincidence, for future reference.

Otto tosses a sombrero into a barrel fire as Miller explains the lattice of coincidence.

I was going to post an entry today that has a serious “plate o’ shrimp” feel to it, but, for as much as I go on about it, I realize that maybe not everybody knows what the plate o’ shrimp/lattice of coincidence concept is. Therefore, I’ve decided to post this entry, in which I encourage everybody to watch/re-watch Alex Cox’s brilliant 1984 movie Repo Man.

In a pivotal scene, Miller (Tracey Walter) waxes philosophical with Otto (Emilio Estevez):

They don’t realize that there’s this, like, lattice of coincidence that lays on top of everything. Give you an example, show you what I mean. Suppose you’re thinking about a plate of shrimp. Suddenly somebody will say like ‘plate’ or ‘shrimp’ or ‘plate of shrimp’, out of the blue, no explanation. No point in looking for one either; it’s all part of the cosmic unconsciousness.

There you have it. A beautifully rough-around-the-edges and hilarious explanation of Carl Jung’s concept of synchronicity (inspired, in part, by I Ching translator Richard Wilhelm. No, not me. Really).

This might be my all-time favorite movie scene, but, more than that, the lattice of coincidence has crept into my world view and settled in for the long haul. I believe plates o’ shrimp are everywhere and recognizing them is often where cool art/relationships/experiences begin.

~217~