I just wanted to share with you some reflections on parts of the movie I found questionable and parts of the movie that I was inspired by. I encourage everyone to see this movie, but just fair warning to y'all, this post has movie spoilers involved. Again, from here on out: SPOILER ALERT.
Now that that's out of the way, it would be helpful to start this off by explaining the rules of time travel involved in About Time. Each movie that involves time travel sets up some rules in order to help the audience understand how it works (ex. You must be traveling at 88 MPH using a flux capacitor in Back to the Future).
Time Travel Rules For About Time
- You must be a man in this particular family. Tim's dad and grandfather and all other men before him could time travel.
- You can only time travel to a memory. You cannot travel from the present to the future, but you can go as far back in your lifetime as you'd like.
- You must be in a dark place, clench your fists, and think of a particular memory to travel.
- Changing things before a child's conception or birth risks changing the child (more on that later).
Now that the rules have been established, I want to dig into the things that I found disagreeable in this film. These are aspects of the movie where there is questionable morality.
My Conflicts with About Time
The First Date Hook-Up: Tim and Mary have a wonderful first date experience (This is the third time Tim has met Mary, but it's her first time meeting him). He walks her back to her place and is invited inside. Pretty soon, they go all the way. Eventually Tim moves in and lives with her. Now, let me clarify that I am not condemning or judging people in my own life who have done this. This is just a part of the movie that I found had questionable morality which I disagree with. The couple had beautiful, awkward, blossoming romance before this scene, and romance does not involve going to bed with each other after a date. Not to mention it makes it awkward having to try to fast forward through this scene with the host mom present (none of us realized this would be in the movie).
Saying No to a Baby Boy: So, Tim and Mary are now married and have a baby girl, Posy. However, Tim decides to travel far back in time in order to help his sister avoid a disastrous relationship. When he returns to the present, Tim finds a baby boy waiting for him, not a baby girl. Confused and upset, Tim returns everything to the way it originally was in order to have a baby girl once again.
It turns out that, because of how far back Tim had gone and how drastically things changed, a butterfly effect happened and changed the outcome of his child's conception. The remaining question is: Why would Tim reverse things in order to have a girl instead of a boy? In this new timeline, he would have spent as much time with the boy as with the girl before and would have fond memories and connections with both of them. Does Tim want to avoid carrying on the family's time traveling ability? Either way, Tim would rather change things back to normal and have his sister go through years of a destructive relationship with a guy just so he could raise a girl rather than being willingly to raise a boy.
Free Will vs. God's Will: This is my biggest conflict with the movie. The idea of time travel and changing mistakes conflicts with my understanding of God having a plan for our lives. We are meant to go through hardships and conflicts in order to help us mature, gain experience, and grow closer to God. Yet, with this ability to time travel, Tim can avoid conflicts and manipulate his life so that it turns out the way he wants it, not necessarily how God wants it. Ultimately, Tim (like all of us) has the free will to make the choices in life that he wants to make, but the way that he uses his gift could potentially cut out God's will for his life (ex. God might want Tim to raise a son instead of a daughter, but Tim chooses a daughter).
However, I am asking myself several questions because of this time travel ability: Is Tim's time travel ability a gift from God? Is it OK for Tim to use this ability to change things in order to help other people? Is it God's will that Tim goes through all of these different scenarios and still gain the experiences without suffering consequences and conflict? In the end, will God's plan for Tim's life still happen (Is Tim meant to marry Mary? Is Tim meant to have these particular kids?) even with Tim's interference?
The Scenes That Made Me Appreciate About Time
Tim First Meets Mary: Tim goes out to dinner with his friend Jay to a restaurant where people eat food in the dark. They are sat down at a table with two women, Mary and her friend Joanna. They spend three hours at dinner together in the dark before they finally see each other outside to say goodbye. The beautiful thing about this scene is how well Tim and Mary get along and get to know each other without ever seeing what each other look like until the end.
Tim is nervous to meet her because of how great of a time he had and is afraid that they will not click once they see what each other look like. Tim desires Mary because of how much he got to know her during their meal, her personality, her humor, her quirkiness. It is only after the end of the dinner that Tim actually sees Mary for the first time and is astounded by her beauty. It's awesome to see a movie put focus on a couple falling for each other's humor and personality before their physical appearance.
Tim's Sacrifice for His House Mate: Early in the movie, Tim moves in with a grumpy, dramatic playwright named Harry. The opening of Harry's new play occurs the same time as Tim goes out to dinner and meets Mary for the first time. When Tim comes home, he learns that Harry's play was ruined because his actor forgot his lines. Without a second thought, Tim time-travels to go with Harry to the play. Tim talks with the actors, and even holds cue-cards, to help the performance.
Before, the play was a disaster, but with Tim's help, the play turns out to be an incredibly successful masterpiece. By going back and being at the performance, Tim loses his first perfect meeting with Mary and has to track her down to start over again. He doesn't go back in order to experience the date again, therefore sacrificing his romantic life for the good of his friend's life and career.
Tim Overcomes Temptation: At this point, Tim and Mary are dating. Tim is out without Mary one night and bumps into Charlotte. Charlotte is an attractive blonde that Tim had a huge crush on in the past, but she rejected him. Now, however, Charlotte is glad to see Tim again. They catch up a bit before Charlotte asks Tim to walk her home. He does so politely, all the while leaving us unsure as to whether his old feelings are taking over. They come to Charlotte's doorstep and Charlotte invites Tim in. After a short pause, Tim rejects her invitation and leaves Charlotte to return to Mary and propose to her.
It's incredible to have an example in a movie of a man overcoming this kind of temptation. The stereotype is that a man in this position would give in to lust and that would cause conflict, but this time Tim rises above the stereotype. The audience could see the willpower and courage it took for Tim to reject Charlotte's invitation. Tim knows that Mary is the wonderful woman that he has been searching for all of his life and that Charlotte is just a beautiful woman that inspired lust in him, not love.
Tim Tries to Help His Sister: I know I already mentioned this earlier, but it's worth mentioning again. Tim loves his sister very much. After she gets in a drunk driving accident and Tim realizes she has an alcohol problem that stems from her damaging dating relationship, Tim goes back in time to help her avoid that relationship all together so that she is not hurt in the future. He sees that his sister is eventually happy with his friend Jay. However, he returns everything to the way it originally was (for reasons explained earlier) and after his sister's accident talks her into dumping her jerk boyfriend and begin dating Jay.
Tim's Relationship with His Father: These two spend a lot of the movie together. They play table tennis, listen to old records, and hang out on the beach. Tim seeks his father's advice often, especially when it comes to time travel. Even after establishing life in London, Tim goes over to Cornwall often to visit his parents and be with his dad in particular. It's a model father-son relationship without feeling cheesy. This leads me to the final scene I want to mention.
Tim Sacrifices His Time with His Father: Major spoiler here: Tim's father dies during the movie. The only way that Tim can be present with his father after the death is by traveling back in time. However, Mary wants to have another child (They have two kids at this point, but Mary wants to try for three and beyond). Tim knows that the birth of the third child means risking changing that child drastically and affecting his relationship with it (like what happened with his girl Posy). However, avoiding time travel means never being present with his father again.
In the end, Tim time travels one last time the night before his third child is born to have one last hoorah with his father. Then, Tim gives up time travel. Here in the end, Tim avoids his selfish desires and sacrifices not only his ability, but his father's presence. We all have to let go of a loved one at some point, but Tim never thought that he would lose his father because he could visit his memories for as long as he lived. He sacrifices that time because of how much he loves his wife and his children.
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