The character Ouisa Kittredge (Stockyard Channing) in John Guare’s play (and later movie), Six Degrees of Separation, delivers the great monologue below after the con man Paul (Will Smith in the film) exploits loose social connections and their inherent vulnerability to infiltrate the Kittredge home and family life:
“I read somewhere that everybody on this planet is separated by only six other people. Six degrees of separation. Between us and everybody else on this planet. The president of the United States. A gondolier in Venice. Fill in the names. I find that A) tremendously comforting that we’re so close and B) like Chinese water torture that we’re so close. Because you have to find the right six people to make the connection. It’s not just big names. It’s anyone. A native in a rain forest. A Tierra del Fuegan. An Eskimo. I am bound to everyone on this planet by a trail of six people. It’s a profound thought. How Paul found us….How every person is a new door, opening up into other worlds. Six degrees of separation between me and everyone else on this planet. But to find the right six people.”
