Building playgrounds for the imagination

I’ve been thinking about how and why some topics, periods, and ideas become fertile ground supporting an ecosystem of imaginary worlds, and others do not.
Plausibility, ridiculousness, and surprise

Will Sasso doesn’t look anything like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Or Steven Seagal. He does kinda look like James Gandolfini. But his impressions of all three actors are equally good. Why?
Running the Jewels
I prefer the storyline of running plays to passing plays:
A man has obtained a great treasure — can he evade his pursuers and get home in time?