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Monday, February 26, 2018

When All the Lights Go Out

Something sad and beautiful: Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Lorene Scafaria's 2012 romantic comedy-drama about humanity's final days, seen through the lens of Dodge (Steve Carell) and Penny (Keira Knightley), two lost souls who made bad choices all their lives and who now have one last chance to find fleeting happiness.

Hopefully we'll never know how the mass of humanity will behave should the apocalypse ever loom; I suspect it wouldn't be as quiet (barring one riot) as seen here. And then again, perhaps it really will be as philosophically relaxed as Scafaria imagines.

The film delivers on the promise of its title, a reminder that everything we've ever accomplished or dreamed of can disappear, just like that. Near the beginning of the film, one overwhelmed character mutters "Life is completely meaningless." He could be right. Or maybe meaning doesn't matter; or maybe the meaning of existence is simply to enjoy it while it lasts, the best way you can.


1 comment:

Jeff Shyluk said...

Not certain about planetary extinction, but when Hawai'i had 38 minutes of nuclear annihilation coming to them on January 13th (a false alarm!), Pornhub saw a 400% increase in activity.