Patrick is losing faith in Mark as a character. He thinks there’s no arc. He thinks we’re being self-indulgent in using Mark as a character. Sure he’s interesting to us. He’s interesting to those who know him. But to people who don’t know him…Patrick thinks they won’t give a flip about it.
I am of a different mind. I think that Mark represents something important. He’s achieved more than most. He’s got a successful company, a beautiful wife, friends, lots of things. But he is not fulfilled. He looks forward to an unimagined future…a future that looks quite different from his present. And because he can’t paint a clear picture of this future that he wants, he is trapped in the present, “which is fine, you know, but…”
So, what does he represent? He’s come to the post-modern urban frontier to make his fortune. He has reinvented himself. But, he longs to reinvent himself again. And, for this, he needs cash…4 million, to be exact. But, what exactly will that buy him? He doesn’t know. He hasn’t imagined that far.
