Gemini Man: When Will Smith meets Will Smith

By Yen Nguyen, Staff Writer

While scrolling through Instagram, I came across a page dedicated to those born under the astrological sign Gemini. A meme described how a Gemini has “9000 layers of personalities they made to mask their deepest emotions.” Oddly interesting and coincidental, it was right after I attended the Gemini Man Pre-Screening at King of Prussia as a representative of the Bi-Co Newspaper between Bryn Mawr and Haverford Colleges.

It’s been quite a while since I last watched Will Smith on the theater screen, but not too long after I saw him on his Youtube (because his channel is AMAZING) and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Red Table Talk where she hosts guests of diverse background alongside her mother and daughter to discuss unique issues.

The Will to achieve Greatness

Will’s quick wit and infectious charm, which was originally the reason why he was named the “Fresh Prince” brought me to trace back to the start of his career being a star. I re-watched his phenomenal movies series, cracked up at his vlogs and teared up every single time he talked about his family or shared his motivation. Will soon developed a vision of himself in the future: to become the biggest star. The start of his career kicked in with a churning feeling in his stomach that the friend who he had just met at a party, Jeffrey Townes, would be his partner-in-crime. For a few years, they performed in different rap groups and expanded their horizon beyond the Philadelphia region. Will never waited or overthought an opportunity. Earning a million dollars before he turned 20, he convinced his parents at college could wait, although he went on to become Hollywood’s biggest star without going back. Eventually, Smith did not only become a star. He was a hero, an icon and a phenomenon. Will shared that he loves being famous. He once shared that while many well-known people are afraid to even walk on the streets, he feels safe because people would help if something happens to him.

The Will to Accept and Sacrifice

Raised in a family where he saw his father beating up his mother, ever since he was five years old, Will dreamed of building a family of his own. Describing himself as a “one-woman” man, Will’s world crashed when his first wife filed a divorce. Fortunately, he immediately re-connected with Jada, who he knew he was meant to be with a few years back when the familiar churning feeling “clicked” in his mind. Will always has a special sense towards people who would be important in his life.

Looking back at their wedding, all they could say was “The wedding was horrible” because up until that point, Jada still did not believe in the construct of marriage. After watching countless videos of Jada and Will, I now understand why the public has always been curious about their family lives. Will dreamed of a family as a result of a wedding while Jada questioned independence. Will loved being in the spotlight while Jada thought of living in an isolated farm before she met him. Despite all of that, they were the perfect fit for one another. My own assumed answer is how they could empower one another. If you want to listen to their empowering story, definitely watch Will’s episode on Red Table Talk (a show hosted by Jada, her mother Adrienne and her daughter Willow where they discuss and tackle social and cultural issues through inter-generational perspectives). It is a beautiful story of how they both had to unlearn their own visions of their future to learn to build a future together.

So what happens when the great man meets himself? Gemini Man!

Through his interview with ScreenRant, producer Jerry Bruckheimer shared why Will Smith was the perfect fit for Gemini Man: “It’s very difficult to find an actor who was a star when he was younger, and a star when he’s older.”

Gemini Man surprised me in the sense that I do not think it is an action-thriller movie at all. When I first looked at the movie poster, I expected something dark and gloomy. It turned out to be a beautifully made movie that carried messages and meanings we never knew we needed in today’s hectic reality.

The movie tells the story of Henry Brogan, a government assassin who was chased down by a younger clone of himself. Henry was considered the best weapon of the United States. No nation comes to war unprepared, so a grand plan of cloning Henry was in action to create a strong army with no fear, no emotions and no doubts. His younger clone, Clay Jr., was on the mission to kill Henry while Henry was used as a missile to destroy the cloning plan. Throughout the movie, the idea of humanity and human nature became clearer as I experienced the ladder of emotions that Will Smith and the cast went through.

When Will faced his younger clone for the first time, confusion and strangeness were felt on both ends. It was finally time he faced the mirror he resisted facing: himself. What I was struck by the most was how Will told Clay Jr. the truth that he was cloned. It was strange. He was talking to someone else who had different emotions, different childhood and different experience, but he knew Clay Jr. was a representation of himself. They had the same fears, same nightmares and same regrets. Will was not only talking to Clay Jr. He was talking to himself. Perhaps this is the most dangerous and deadly encounter; an inner conflict with yourself. I could not help but imagine the process Will Smith must go through to express the character’s emotions when he meet a human version of his own thoughts. Clay Jr. was not the past he wanted to hide, he was the start of that past. It does not matter how crazy the world can be, your biggest fear and your worst enemy is yourself.

We have heard and read about robots replacing human in military because they do not have fear and emotions. Clay—the creator of Clay Jr., Henry’s former boss—taught both of them to embrace and learn to overcome their fears. There are angels and demons attached to this lesson, and in Henry’s experience, embracing his fear meant sacrificing everything he wanted. It might have been easier if Clay Jr. is just a robot, but he was a human who was making the same mistakes that Henry made. Clay’s plan to create an army of Henry’s clones derived from his responsibility to protect the United States and its people. He did not want any family to lose their children or to have their children come back home with PTSD of war damage. Sometimes, bad inventions might come from good intentions, depending on one’s understanding of “good” and “bad.”

I came back to my dorm room, feeling incredibly energized to binge watch Will Smith’s movies. It doesn’t matter who he acts as, there will always be one and only one Will Smith.

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