Goodness, there certainly are LASTING EFFECTS from online shopping! Dearest online retailers, may I give you a WEENSY little tip? Sending a new customer emails every single day is unlikely to result in anything except a click right to the unsubscribe button, especially since many of us were new customers because we were shopping for a gift for someone else. I assure you that I personally am not interested in all these emails about exciting tool/hardware specials. If you dialed it back a bit, though, I might be reminded of you the next time I was shopping for that same person. Instead, too late! Unsubscribe! Now I am forgetting all about you, instead of having your company name on my mind like a sweet scent on a gentle breeze!
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I watched TiMER (Netflix link), and although I have complaints, I am also feeling obsessive and thinking about it A LOT, and I want everyone else to watch it too. Just for starters, the lead girl is played by Anya from Buffy, and she was one of our top favorite Buffy characters. (I liked her in this movie, too, but “turning 30 next week,” my foot.) And then the lead guy (John Patrick Amedori) is played by a guy who reminds me strongly of my high school boyfriend, so.
The plot is that it becomes possible to get a wrist implant (a TiMER) that counts down to the day you’ll meet the perfect person for you—but ONLY if that person ALSO has a TiMER. (I apologize in advance for how annoying it is to read “TiMER” written like that. I will try to use it as little as possible.) So you might get the implant (you can legally get one at age 14) and it could be blank—and it might STAY BLANK YOUR WHOLE LIFE, if there’s no perfect person for you OR if your perfect person never gets an implant. Or your perfect person might get an implant and then your blank TiMER suddenly pops up some countdown numbers!! You’d have to glance at it a million times a day!!
Are you fascinated? I am fascinated. I didn’t even really want the movie so much as I wanted a multi-volume set of short stories telling me every possible way this could go. (I felt the same way about Death Match, a book on a very similar topic.) What about someone whose perfect person dies before they meet? Does the screen suddenly go blank? What if you’ve already met your perfect person? Does it just countdown to the next time you meet them? What about all the people who were already partnered when this technology was invented? Would they get a TiMER or not? (Would you?) Did anyone do that and find they were already with their perfect person? What if your perfect person was already, say, your sister’s/friend’s husband? Could anyone have more than one perfect person? Could there ever be a situation where the numbers would change—like if there’s a different perfect person for you, or if your perfect person dies and a new perfect person is substituted? The movie touches lightly on some of the issues, but mostly focuses on these:
1) What if your TiMER is blank and you get kind of obsessive about it and keep trying to get every guy you meet to get an implant?
2) What if your TiMER has a date far in the future? Like, you’re 21, but your implant says you won’t meet the love of your life until you’re 45? What do you do about dating in the meantime? (And do you go ahead and have children with someone else?)
3) What if you meet a great guy and your TiMERs don’t match? Do you date him while you’re both waiting to meet your perfect person? and then, like, break up when the timer is at zero? Or what?
4) What if you get the implant when you’re 14, and the countdown is for a few days later? When you’re not even really ready for dating? Won’t that be kind of weird for everyone, including both families?
5) If this technology exists, should everyone use it? or not? Does it make things work better, or does it mess things up? (I appreciated the way the movie didn’t get heavy-handed here: I wasn’t even sure which side it was coming down on in the end.)
My main complaint was this: If we really did have these countdown devices, it would take mere microseconds for everyone to be online comparing numbers and matching them up to try to find their perfect matches earlier (“Okay, everyone with a countdown to June 5th, 2013 go to THIS forum, everyone with a countdown to June 5th, 2014 to THIS forum…”). But then…that would screw up all the numbers, right? Because they’d all meet sooner. So what about THAT? I would be willing to let that go, though, with the smallest attempt at addressing it—just a mention that people tried it and it messed everything up and didn’t work and the numbers got all wonked so everyone stopped. (But still. Wouldn’t you be like, “Hey, your device says June 5th, 2021? What a coincidence: so does my friend’s! I should introduce you!”)
Now I would like someone to start writing the stories, please. I want MORE.
… and how is ‘perfect person’ defined? Could the device suggest a non-sexual partnership, so say you’re not lesbian but it believes your lifelong best girlfriend is your perfect partner? Would you and she spend your whole lives looking for the right guy, sleeping with this one and that one, dissatisfied, and then commiserating happily *with the person who is your perfect partner*?
Ooo…I like Jennifer’s question, and I agree with you, Swistle, that I want books with stories on this stuff. I haven’t seen the movie, but I might have to watch it now. The topic is kind of intriguing.
Netflix says: “You rated this 5 stars on 7/3/2010.”
Dear Netflix,
I have no memory of this. Was this a real rating or an errant mouse click? This sounds like a movie I’d like. Did I? Do I?!
Confusedly,
Bailey
I watched TiMER a while back (maybe a year or so ago?) and I still think about it from time to time. I’d say that’s a sign of a good movie.
I felt kinda bad for the little brother whose timer went off so early; to think he wouldn’t experience the emotions that go with dating more than one person made me sad.
I saw this a while ago and like you, all I really cared about was hearing short stories of how it played out for different people. WHY DO THEY NOT GIVE US MORE STORIES. Someone get on that.
I think I would like the quick solution to what-if-you-expedite-the-meeting to be that the timers reset to infinity/blank because the perfect person is only the perfect person at the perfect time. People change!
No cheating. You must WAIT.
All that FWIW because I haven’t seen the movie.
I have never seen this movie, and although the concept sounds mildly intriguing, I doubt I’ll ever watch it. (I don’t have netflix and our library system refuses to ILL with other systems so we have limited options.) Anyway, my biggest problem with the whole concept is how would the device define perfect? Like, how would it know? What kind of freaky technology would be available that would read people that intimately to know who would be perfect for another person?
I’m currently reading “The Chocolatier’s wife” http://www.amazon.com/Chocolatiers-Wife-Cindy-Lynn-Speer/dp/0979808189 which has a fantasy version of a TiMER. I’m only halfway through, so it is possible that the ending is awful, but I’m enjoying it so far. While the book is based around the TiMER concept…it is really a completely different story…so that will still be frustrating.
I watched TiMER a year ago, I think, and yeah, it was really interesting. I especially felt for the kids who have their TiMERS go off basically as soon as they get them. It turns it almost into an arranged marriage, which I don’t think is ideal for anyone. But, I love the idea of the technology (even though I’ve been married for 12 years, and with the same guy since 1995!).
I am in total agreement on the too many emails complaint! Like, bookstore in a different state from where I live – I love you but I am not coming in to redeem any coupons.
This has been in my queue for over a year. You might have just inspired me to watch it.
OH!!!! I watched TiMER when I was on maternity leave so of course I have zero recollection of it. I am definitely going to rewatch it now that I’m not a zombie, thanks for the reminder!
I quite liked it, but I suspended my disbelief quite a bit more (because, exactly, how is ‘perfect person’ defined? It’s not possible, in my opinion, so I just ignored it). But what did you think of the ending? It pissed me off.
I remember also being intrigued by the TiMER idea. I even spent a good amount of time haunting its board reading and discussing the movie.
I think what struck me was that so many of them got their time and they just sort of waited until they met “the one.” It’s very narrow thinking to discount what could be a great experience just because you know there will eventually be an experience to top it. Life doesn’t begin when you meet The One. There’s plenty of meaningful stuff in between that will make you the person who is The One to the other person. Despite a lot of people dogging the ending, I liked it because I felt like both sisters got that and quit wasting their lives waiting for 0:00.
Bibliomama- It’s hard to discuss without spoilers! I liked it in some ways, not in others. It seemed to represent the sorts of foul-ups that could happen with this sort of thing. (Not that the same thing doesn’t also happen without TiMERs.)
I haven’t seen it, so I didn’t read them and cannot attest to quality, but there’s a whole two stories in the TiMER section of fanfiction.net, if you’re so inclined. Sounds like an intriguing movie, and I’m going to add it to my list of movies to watch!