They say doorways are a type of portal, which change your state of mind when you walk through them, possibly leading to why people can instantly forget what they wanted when walking into a room. Because your mind has gone from one reality into another, although your physical self did not. Perhaps. They seem just like a practical way to separate rooms, and for purposes of warmth and privacy, doors were added.

But what if that particular composition is actually a mathematically important set up. Think of Ghostbusters, and the big building with its whole design being specific to be a huge portal. Mostly in films they are represented as round, steering the mind away from the average rectangle we see every day. A whole building being one gives a good angle for thinking big rather than small, and is a good side point. But for this we are looking at smaller, doorway like set ups.

Monsters Inc – the whole film was based around doorways being the portals to access children. A very watchable but creepy movie to be honest, but doors to different places, from another existence that is separate from ours, but can access it.

Portal – another film about alien portals appearing as doorways, haven’t seen it so can only bring it to the table as a basic premise, but it seems to fit.

Doors – a film about lots of alien doorways that appear on earth, not watched this one either but it seems relevant.

Shazam – a scene in this film shows a cave full of doors leading to all sorts of different realities.

Coraline – it’s a small door that leads to an alternative reality once active.

Beetlejuice – to get to the netherworld on demand, a doorway was to be drawn, to create access.

Poltergeist – it was the walk-in wardrobe that seemed to be a portal point when it all got crazy, but the doorway was important there too. And again, that was the other side deciding to step through to this realm.

And that seems to be a running theme throughout these concepts, that it isn’t always activated. But when it is, some weird stuff occurs.

Narnia – another doorway/wardrobe, but this one obviously leading to a rather fantastical land with adventures and perils aplenty. But still another realm being accessed via a doorway.

Mr Ben – a great and fun cartoon of putting on a different costume and stepping through a doorway to the place of that costume. So, a portal directly to that place with no ‘travel time’ involved.

Time Bandits – the initial contact for the crazy and wonderful adventure that followed was through his wardrobe, even though they didn’t go into it, something came out.

I also think about wardrobes and the fear that some have of them, and wonder if it because of films and stories, or because it’s a feeling you get about it. And that’s how the stories started in the first place perhaps, along with others of the boogie man, and the things that hide under your bed kind of thing. But I guess with all of these things and ideas, it isn’t just that there is another world through it, or something lurking on the other side that seems to be what is so uncomfortable or unnerving for some. It’s the idea that it can open the door whenever it wants to and step through into our world, uninvited and with unknown intent. And sometimes we might unknowingly open one of those doors without knowing quite what’s on the other side, and sometimes, just now and again, maybe we do…

(c) K Wicks