Travel to the Past

Usually, for me it is easier to move characters from the past to the future, because generally we have better understanding, better information about them. In a word, hindsight. 

And we are more reflective and calmer.

But what about personalities that are really close to our own time? People who still stir passionate debates and arguments.

I have tried to be as objective as I could, because one of them is a politician who ruled when I was little so I did not have any direct reference but what I saw grown ups reacting at that time - and with little understanding, except what she made me feel every time I saw her. 

And the other one, belongs to an area… I truly am not passionate about it. Also stirs passionate opinions, but there is more agreement about his achievements, and his personality too. I was older to understand him, I had my own personal experiences to use as a tool for understanding his psychology - or at least, try to.

They are:

• Margaret Thatcher

  
  

Armoured power

When thinking of her, a powerful lady in politics in the 1980s, when I was a child, it came clear to me. A place and a time when ladies ruled. With an iron fist too if necessary. As regents, as powerful advisors to men and even in their own right.

So it was easy: end of the XVIth century. Armoured outfits, reflecting the bellicosity of that period. The widow’s cap, because let’s be clear, she’s free of the control of a man and now can be free. Black and silver, like weapons of the time. 

With a touch of red, for all the passion she brings to the table of government. And all the passion she brings to the lives of their subjects. So she could be a Habsburg regent in one of the biggest empires the world has known. As fiercely in 1582 as four centuries later.

• Steve Jobs

Focused determination

 Who does not know him? Who does not use his inventions? Who hasn’t watched the 2 movies about him? Just a bitten apple brings him to mind.  Surrounded by engineers, designers, economists… but it was his vision.

 Determined. Focused. Strong.

Not the most likeable of characters - his Stanford speech remains one of the most watched on YouTube history. A complex man, driven by a desire for perfection and simplicity. He wanted his creations - Ipod, Ipad, Iphone  to reflect that. Maximum performance, nearly perfect, yet intuitive and beautiful in their minimalism.

So - when and where do we find such a figure? A man obsessed with beauty and function, whose vision could not be realized alone?

Renaissance Italy, XVth century. 

Among maecenas, engineers, inventors. Surrounded by plans and sketches. Arguing with Popes or collaborating with Leonardo. Working late, defending ideas with passion, and needing others to build what he could imagine.