Skip to main content

story identification - Time travel film: character with male and female reproductive organs is taken back in time by a barman who turns out to be themselves


I have had a friend give me a rough description of a film and I'm curious to find out what it actually is. I don't know very much. I understand this will be difficult, especially since every time my friend explains the tale it's different so this description is likely to contain some inaccuracies.



The film's plot begins with a recounting given by the main character, who had both male and female reproductive organs but had one set removed (not sure which, think male ones were removed). The main character is narrating this tale to the barman in a bar. The barman then takes the main character back in time, where they make love to themselves and produce a child.


The child, once born, is abandoned by the mother in the past - but the barman takes the child to the orphanage and leaves them there, ensuring their survival. Eventually it is revealed that the child was the main character themselves, and so was the barman.


In other words every major character introduced up to that point was the same person who had severely messed with their own timeline.



Answer



The movie was called Predestination (Wikipedia, IMDb), released in 2014, starring Ethan Hawke, and is based on a 1958 Robert Heinlein short story called "All You Zombies" (Wikipedia).


From IMDb.com:



For his final assignment, a top temporal agent must pursue the one criminal that has eluded him throughout time. The chase turns into a unique, surprising and mind-bending exploration of love, fate, identity and time travel taboos.



The main character is narrating this tale to the barman in a bar.




The agent moves to 1970 New York. As a bartender, he starts a conversation with one of the customers. The customer, John, writes true confession articles under the pen name "The Unmarried Mother". This pseudonym is explained by his own life story, which he tells the bartender. (Wikipedia)



The barman then takes the main character back in time...



The agent offers to take John back to the day that Jane met the lover who left her, so John can take revenge and kill him for ruining her life. (Wikipedia)



where they make love to themselves and produce a child.



While waiting, he encounters Jane, and when they begin talking, John realizes that Jane's lover was him. (Wikipedia)




the barman takes the child to the orphanage and leaves them there, ensuring their survival. Eventually it is revealed that the child was the main character themselves, and so was the barman.



The baby born from this "self-fertilization" is stolen by the agent and brought to the orphanage 18 years earlier, in 1945. Therefore, Jane, John, and their baby are the same person, revealing a predestination paradox. (Wikipedia)






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

What is Tolkien trying to say in this letter?

In a draft of a letter, later recorded as #246, Tolkien makes a strange statement. I am interested in the first few sentences of the letter, but I will include the remainder for the sake of context. In the 'Mirror of Galadriel', 1381, it appears that Galadriel conceived of herself as capable of wielding the Ring and supplanting the Dark Lord. If so, so also were the other guardians of the Three, especially Elrond . But this is another matter. It was part of the essential deceit of the Ring to fill minds with imaginations of supreme power . But this the Great had well considered and had rejected, as is seen in Elrond's words at the Council. Galadriel's rejection of the temptation was founded upon previous thought and resolve. In any case Elrond or Galadriel would have proceeded in the policy now adopted by Sauron: they would have built up an empire with great and absolutely subservient generals and armies and engines of war, until they could challenge Sauron and destroy ...
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Was Galadriel's temptation of Boromir instrumental to his fall?

We know Galadriel tempted the members of the Fellowship, did she tempt Boromir with visions of taking the Ring and saving Gondor? In the books, Boromir willingly accepts the judgement of the council that the Ring should be destroyed, but after the meeting with Celeborn and Galadriel his personality seems to change. Was the temptation offered by Galadriel in some way responsible for Boromir's fall? Answer It's likely, but not certain I believe it is likely Galadriel tempted him with the ring, and in doing so re-ignited a pre-existing idea to take the ring, but to be clear lets break this down into three parts. Boromir at the Council of Elrond Boromir after setting off Boromir after being tempted Boromir at the Council of Elrond Boromir pleas for the ring to go to Minas Tirith, to help Gondor in its defense against Mordor. “ Why should we not think that the Great Ring has come into our hands to serve us in the very hour of need? Wielding it the Free Lords of the Free may surely...
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...
Post a Comment
Read more