Horror or Sci Fi?

It's whatever you like really

Photo by eddie on Unsplash

The 2014 movie Edge of Tomorrow is an action sci fi where two people save humanity mixing alien species with themselves. My brother in law stated that Edge of tomorrow was like Happy Death Day. This is a horror movie and I don’t like them. But then I thought of another movie where time loops are an important plot point’ Groundhog day. All these movies deal with the same topic, time loops, but cater towards different people’s preferences. And thank goodness for that!

“I have never listened to anyone who criticized my taste in space travel, sideshows or gorillas. When this occurs, I pack up my dinosaurs and leave the room.”
― Ray Bradbury¹

Time loops are nothing new, not now anyhow. Time or temporal loops, this idea of a person or group of people reliving the same amount of time repeatedly. It’s now a commonly used literary device that we all are aware of it. It’s a part of fiction but how did we, collectively come to learn about this? Its not science based so not taught in school. I think learning about time loops came into common understanding was through our preferred style of fiction.

The first idea of time loops seems to be from 1915 with the publication of The Strange life of Ivan Osokin by by P.D Ouspensky². A mainly philosophical novel delving into the idea of “what if I could go back in time with what I know now”. That’s a Russian publication, how about an English language one with time loops. The Worm Ouroboros by E. R. Eddison published in 1922³. This story has a massive nod to Norse Mythology and at the end, when all the battles are won and no more victories to attain, the Gods see their bored subjects and rewind the clock back to the beginning of the story.

Now, philosophical Russian literature is not for everyone. And reading an early 20th century book write in the style of early modern English might not be everyone’s cup of tea. But we can see where this idea starts and then grows into ideas and modern media.

Anything Different is Good - Phil, Groundhog Day

Who’s seen Groundhog day? I’ve not seen it but there has been so much reference to that film that I think I know what happens. Especially after reading the summary of it online. That popular movie helped propel the idea of time loops into the populous. I learnt about time loops from shows like Start Trek, TNG and DS9, short stories from my childhood and Harry Potter with the time turner.

Now, have you every expressed excitement to an acquaintance about a book, film or idea that you’re into and the response that you get is a blank stare? I’ve had a few of those. Maybe those people were not meant to jive with me, but some of the ideas I came across I see in other genre’s and styles of entertainment.

“If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." - part of a quote that might not have been said by Albert Einstein

The time loop idea is a fun plot device. But how we ingest the idea has been mashed, mixed and produced in different styles for us to better take it in. See that quote above this paragraph? I adore the different multitude of media to take in new ideas, experiences and entertainment. Maybe reading philosophy books with time loops isn’t your thing. There’s a movie of your preferred genre that might suit you better. Maybe playing a science fiction game with time loops confuses you. There might be a video essay or an audiobook that can help you get a better grasp of the idea.

I picked time loops because of the movie I was watching. Replace that with anything else and I feel that it makes whatever you’re interested in, currently learning or curious about, easier to comprehend. No matter if it’s time loops, language, cooking or romance, how you get it, it’s whatever you like really.

1. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/science-fiction

2. https://ifyouwantthegravy.wordpress.com/2017/11/07/strange-life-of-ivan-osokin-review/

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Worm_Ouroboros#Meaning_of_the_title