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

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How do Pokemon trainers collect their winnings?

According to Bulbapedia , Prize money is the money that a Trainer pays out at the end of a battle. So we know that the money comes directly from the trainer that just lost, and not some third-party committee or sponsor. But how is this done? It can be easy seeing the random trainers who challenge you along the way wanting to wager and then, after admitting defeat, sticking to their word and handing over their hard-earned pokebucks. Then there are the likes of Team Rocket and Giovanni, who also give money once they lose. This doesn't seem like something people in a criminal organization would willingly do. From this it appears that trainers have no say in whether or not they cough up the dough after losing, but I can't find anything on how exactly the funds are transferred from loser to winner. So how do Pokemon trainers receive their winnings?
Post a Comment
Read more