The Philosophy of Time Travel

 

Haven't we all wondered what would happen if we had the ability to turn back time? What could one moment in time change about our lives or the lives of those around us?

SPOILERS AHEAD..... DO NOT READ PAST THIS IF YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN THE MOVIE DONNIE DARKO

...__________________________________

...__________________________________

...__________________________________

...__________________________________

...__________________________________

...__________________________________

...__________________________________

...__________________________________

...__________________________________


Donnie Darko gets to find out when he accidentally misses his own death. A series of events unfold that destroy so many lives around him; when he realizes that the airplane engine that crashed into his empty bed came from a wormhole - and if he stayed in bed that night, he could save others by dying himself - he goes back and remedies (?) the situation by being in that fatal position. 
There are so many times when we make choices for ourselves, consciously or subconsciously, that completely change the trajectory of our own lives and the lives of others. This "butterfly effect" has been used in many movies; famously, in "It's a Wonderful Life". Donnie Darko is another example, but it turns "It's a Wonderful Life" on its head. Donnie realizes that the lives of others are better without him in it, so, knowing the future, he allows himself to redo the moment that should've been his death, so others might live. 
If I could bend time, go back and undo the moments where I didn't follow the path I should've followed, how would my life be different? 
I can only speculate. It's certain, at least to me, that in the places where I sacrificed for others, the world around me became better. And that's a good start.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Make Me Grateful for Second Chances

Image
Sometimes I forget why I love horror movies so much, and then a movie comes along that reminds me. That's what  The Substance  did--and did unapologetically. When I finished surviving (not just watching) this movie, I was grateful that my life's decisions had not yet doomed me to the same fate our two protagonists met. The movie also raised an interesting question :  What unnecessary choices do we make in life that needlessly grasp at youth?  With a question like this, I'm not suggesting we should never make choices to grasp at youth. We can all revisit those childhood memories and locations that provide us a sense of peace. We can also maintain friendships with people who have long since moved away. There's also nothing wrong with continuing to maintain our health and fitness to become the best versions of ourselves. These are all fine practices that we should feel encouraged to maintain.  The key is "needless." What are the needless attempts we make to grasp...
Read more

Wrting While We Experience Is How We Experience More Fully: We Should Write!

Image
    Can you remember the last moment you wanted to slow down time for? It is that moment you want to last longer than others, a humble glimpse at the fragility of life’s all-too-quick cycles. Picture that moment, and you have a sense of the goal of this blog. This blog is an attempt to live more fully those October memories, those fall experiences that go by far too quickly. The experiences that my wife and I want to slow down time for are all those fall memories. They are those moments we spend visiting Papa’s Pumpkin Patch in Bismarck. They are those moments we spend carving pumpkins and watching Henry’s soccer games. They are those moments we spend watching Coraline (“NOT Coraline at all!”) for the hundredth time. Our message to revisit with this annual post is a humble one: Writing while we experience is how we experience more fully; we should write! The tradition we want to slow down time for is one horror movie for every night in October. Simply, we watch one horror movi...
Read more

Holidays Are the Clocks That Really Matter

Image
   The year 1999 was a big year in my life. It represented my transition from high school to college. It was that magical year when I was suddenly an adult. It was also the year of some pretty darn good movies! Don't believe me? Here's a quick list of the many brilliant movies that came out in 1999, starting with the feature movie for this October-themed blog:  The Blair Witch Project: The Matrix Gattaca  Fight Club Being John Maclkovich  Eyes Wide Shut  Sleepy Hallow  Office Space  You can also research it for yourself! I'm here to write about Blair Witch,  though. This was our second night watching a horror movie in our ritual of one horror movie for every night in October. As I'm watching this movie for the hundredth-or-so-time, it hits me kind of hard that 1999 was a long time ago. For me, it doesn't seem like that, of course. I can still visualize clearly that last year of high school and that first year of attending college in my hometo...
Read more