spoiler alert
The scene where the father in “The Road” dies moved me to tears, even though I knew it was coming, having read the book by Cormac McCarthy. It really wasn’t a good movie (or book), but the finality of the son pulling the sheet over his father’s face…my boyfriend didn’t see that I was crying.
Last night’s episode of HIMYM came as a shock and I didn’t cry. But here are a couple of perspectives:
The numbers at first glance do seem just like a gimmick and a distraction. And one commenter said that they might have been better if they counted down to something more fun. It was jarring to see what they did countdown to. However, to Marshall now all of these scenes in his life will be so many days or so many hours until he learned of his father’s death. It is an extremely honest way to show how people deal with such terrible news….Marshall had this countdown going on in his life and he didn’t even know it and he will play this episode which equates to probably the week before his father’s death, over and over again. And in that world, and in Ted’s narration where the narrator knows the end, it all leads to this life changing event.
HIMYM has always been non-linear with time in its storytelling, especially since the premise of the entire series is that it is a story about the past. I like to see the numbers as a reflection of how important this day is in all their lives. This sad day, and its 50 trivial moments, are now embedded in this group’s memory. Whether intended or not, I like this interpretation of the numbers–not as a countdown, but as an accounting.
(Source: cultural-learnings.com)
