Skip to main content

Unstuck In Time

One of the greatest sci-fi conventions is being  "unstuck in time".

Although there are MANY great instances of this condition, one of the most famous and most influential is (undoubtedly) Vonnegut's Billy Pilgrim. If you've never read (or seen, I suppose) "Slaughterhouse Five", do yourself a favor and check it out!

"Unstuck in time" is a classical way of questioning reality, sanity, free will, fate, mortality, and perception. Someone who finds themselves "unstuck in time" finds themselves fighting against accusations of insanity while struggling to unravel a mystery that inevitably holds the key to their fate. One false move and they could become trapped in a time that they don't belong in, they could irretrievably alter the path of the future, they could destroy the lives of those around them, they could conceivably live forever... ANYTHING possible can happen.

So the question becomes - what have they done before? How has that changed things? And - does it even matter what they do in the future, if they are permanently "unstuck" - they could conceivably continue jumping from time to time for all eternity.

Aaaah the magic of having a character that is "unstuck", they make us ask ourselves, "Is life completely futile?" They make us wonder, "What REALLY matters?" and they make us stop to think, "How much control do any of us ACTUALLY have over our lives?"

You can see, right, how "unstuck in time" is actually a metaphysical, religious situation, right?

Amazing.
Just more reasons to love sci-fi.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rebuttal: 17 Disturbing Horror Movies You Will Never Watch Again

When I'm not watching movies, I'm reading about movies. I stumble across all kinds of articles, blog posts, book excerpts, etc. in my quest to absorb as much movie knowledge as possible.

Now, I'm snotty and loud-mouthed and opinionated but I'd never begrudge another human their opinion. Seriously. You're absolutely welcome to have any opinion about any thing you want. However, I must warn you, if I think your opinion is stupid, I'm absolutely going to say so.

I've recently stumbled on an article completely brimming with so many idiotic opinions that I'm actually compelled to craft a response.

Here's the gist of the original article: there are some horror movies out there that are so disturbing, you'll only ever want to watch them once. I've have taken her original list and refuted her claims without pulling her entire article over. You can read the original article here.

Let's start at the beginning, with her opening statement:
"Hor…
Post a Comment
Read more

But The Flesh Is Weak: Cronenberg's Body Horrors

Body horror; something that effects each one of us as we are made of squishy, fallible, and finite flesh. Tackled many times in many ways throughout the years, body horror will stick with us until we finally learn to lose these weak, human bodies and begin existing in some other form.

There are many lenses through which to view body horror, lets talk about a few quickly before talking about some specific films in this genre.


Science and Technology
We depend on technology, especially in regards to our flimsy, fleshy bodies. Hip replacements, new hearts, brain surgery, iron lungs, cheek implants, etc. We have limited abilities and a limited lifespan, so we lean on technology to increase both. But what happens when we take that melding of mechanical and organic too far? Horror and scifi have taught us that going too far can lead to frighteningly devastating consequences and monstrous creations. (Species, Robocop, Frankenstein, etc.)


Gender
Much of body horror is related to or revolves arou…
Post a Comment
Read more

Pet Sematary

I learned a really interesting lesson the other night: no matter how many times you've seen a movie on a small screen, you haven't really seen it until you've done so on the big screen. Thus begins my story of realization in which I discover Pet Sematary (seemingly for the first time) and develop a theory that it might actually have been directed by David Lynch (this last bit being hyperbole, of course–but I've got a strong case for it, so stick with me).

Over the years, I've watched Pet Sematary a handful of times and while I know all the major plot points (and always remembered Denise Crosby as being completely awful), I definitely feel like I've seen a completely different movie this time around.

In case you're coming in late and don't know how the story goes, here's the $.25 of it: family moves into house positioned (oddly close) to an Indian burial ground. The neighbor is friendly (albeit creepy). The road they are on has absolutely no regular…
Post a Comment
Read more