During the internet blackout, one of the main sources of entertainment for me was watching movies. Between sounds of bombs near our house and being completely cut off from the world, one thing that could keep me sane was starting to watch movies and series I had on my hard drives.

This way I could still feel connected to the world. I can experience the same culture, the same feeling, and the same events and happenings some person experiences in Canada or Japan or Nigeria. This is amazing. I see the same pictures, I wonder about the same thing, and feel the same emotions as anybody else who sees these movies.

Recently, I’ve been watching the series From and I couldn’t be more excited about it. I like everything it does. The story, the mystery, the graphics, acting, sounds, from start to ending of each episode, there’s no single moment I can miss. This is one of those series that I can talk about after each episode ends. One of the series I want to discuss and have conversation about.

One thing I usually enjoy about series like this is that I get to ask myself what would I do if I were there. How would I have been reacting to the same events if I was in their shoes. It keeps me thinking whether I am strong to make the right decision in the same situation? It’s easy to judge a character when he or she does something bad or makes mistake, well because we’re seeing the whole picture from different angles, but if I were them, would we be able to make the same mistake and avoid making even bigger one?

It’s like watching football (the real one, not the American one), looking at the players it’s easy to mock them when they fall or make a mistake, it’s easy to blame them when they miss a shot or penalty kick, but could we really do better than them? Not even be better, could we make the same mistake? Or perhaps we’ll do way worse.

I’m not comparing myself to a TV character of course. It’s all scripted, all of their decisions are made by the writer, I know, nevertheless I still keep thinking about how strong would I be in a bad situation. How effective would my decisions be. Will I be a main character in the same situation, being able to lead people, taking care of them, and share wisdom, or will I be the weak character who makes the situation worse?

And I always reach the same conclusion. It’s easy to decide what would I do when I’m sitting in front of my TV or laptop, sipping my fresh coffee in my pajamas and decide what would I do. I wouldn’t know the answer until I’m really trapped in the same situation as them. It’s easy to criticize them while I know I’ll have a good night sleep. I wouldn’t know for sure what would I do under the same pressure those characters experience.

That leads me to another question for myself. The kind of question I usually ask my friends. How much money would you take to be trapped in the same situation? Or, would you accept to spend one year in the same situation for $500M? The answer for me is still the same. It’s easy to say yes when you’re lying on the couch in front of TV, eating your lunch. The real answer, for me, will be when I’m really presented with the question, with real opportunity. It seems too easy to do right now, but will I really be that person who can endure all that?

I doubt that I can be any better than the weakest character I see on these movies and series. To think about the amount of pain and suffering they’ve endured and still standing? That seems impossible to me. I can just hope I wouldn’t be in their situation.

Yet, we’ve experienced some stuff here most people in world can’t even imagine. So maybe I’m wrong, maybe I can be the hero if I was in their world.