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It’s a Mostly Wonderful Life
#343: Marc and the crew talk about It’s a Wonderful Life, and imagining a world without you in it. We discuss stories about removing yourself from the timeline and how and why it resonates with people.
Transcript
Josué Cardona 0:11
Welcome to GT radio on the Geek Therapy network here at Geek Therapy, we believe that the best way to understand each other and ourselves is through the media we care about. My name is Josué Cardona. And I’m joined by link Keller.
Link Keller 0:21
Hello, friends,
Josué Cardona 0:23
Lara Taylor.
Lara Taylor 0:24
Hey,
Josué Cardona 0:25
the one and only Marc Cuiriz.
Marc Cuiriz 0:27
Hello,
Josué Cardona 0:29
Marc, it’s your turn. What are we talking about today?
Marc Cuiriz 0:30
All right. So it’s funny because I feel like I baited all of you guys, I was talking about how I recently went to go see, It’s a Wonderful Life. And yet, we thought we were gonna go Christmas movie type thing. And I was like, nope, let’s get deep in nitty gritty. And I wanted to talk more about the idea of exploring what life would be like, if you or if someone didn’t exist or was no longer around. So to kind of give a little context for that. For those that haven’t seen, It’s a Wonderful Life. It kind of talks a little bit about that without getting, I mean, I don’t know, I guess
Lara Taylor 1:17
spoiler alert for an eighty year old movie.
Marc Cuiriz 1:20
Exactly. I was like
Josué Cardona 1:22
It’s in the public domain at this point, like, yeah.
Marc Cuiriz 1:25
So it was was It’s A Wonderful Life. It talks about this guy named George Bailey and his life. And on Christmas Eve, He has this very like he’s reaching this very focal point in his life of deciding whether or not he should kill himself to sort of save his family’s business and save his family from potential, like fraud and whatever, and just basically getting destroyed. So he decides that maybe he’s better off dead than alive, because then at least people will be better off. And so then his guardian angel comes by, and sort of shows him a brief glimpse of what life would be like as if he had never existed. And he realizes, like, all the lives, he’s touched in the people he’s impacted, and all the good he’s done, despite giving up his own dreams, to travel the world and things like that. And ultimately, it’s he gains an appreciation for his life. And then when he kind of returns, he’s very grateful. And then everybody sort of comes together to sort of help him out because he’d spent his entire life helping out everybody else. Now, when he’s finally in trouble, everybody comes together to help him. So yeah,
Josué Cardona 2:46
so the bait and switch was, hey, let’s watch Christmas movies.
Marc Cuiriz 2:50
JK, let’s talk about some dark deep stuff.
Lara Taylor 2:55
AKA Mark wants therapy on the show.
Marc Cuiriz 2:59
That is, you know, that is one spin to it. Or it could just be I just like, a deep philosophical questions. And so then I like to hear your perspectives on it.
Lara Taylor 3:12
That’s true.
Josué Cardona 3:13
I’m curious, why. Why is this question on your mind?
Marc Cuiriz 3:21
So So here in Chicago, there is like a whole event thing with this movie, because it plays at the Music Box Theater. And when people go there, they have like, they go completely decked out with Christmas stuff. There’s like a Christmas sing along. And then it goes into the movie. And it’s like a, it’s a fun little show. So my first time going to one even see this movie and to experiencing the show was last year. And when I watched it last year, it got it. I left the movie sort of thinking, I was like, Oh, that’s a very interesting way to kind of view things. And I was thinking to myself, like, Oh, I wonder about the people maybe I’ve impacted or how do I want my legacy to sort of play out in life? You know, like, how do I want that to be carried? Or how do I want people to view me so then this time around? One I was very exhausted watching this movie, because he watched it a 9:45 at night. So I was already all sorts of crazy wonky.
Josué Cardona 4:26
at what speed did you watch it?
Marc Cuiriz 4:27
normal speed. So yeah, had I really slow myself down. But so when we when we left it, this time around, that’s when the idea of not being around or being better off dead was like something that I started thinking about because then I started thinking about other forms of media or other things that I’ve seen that I’ve touched on that this is kind of a throwback for me, but I the first thing that came to my head immediately It was this fairly oddparents episode where, where he makes the wish that he wishes he was never born. But instead of showing like how everyone’s life was worse, it shows that everybody’s life was in fact better because he wasn’t born. And then the whole episode is like, now we’re gonna throw you in this pit of children who wish they were never born and made the world a better place. But what ultimately saved him was, there was one person that was negatively impacted by him not being around, and I think that was 2d. And so because of her pain, he was unable to like, nope, see, look. And now I’m back at now back to making everybody’s life somewhat miserable again, but at least he’s back. And now he has a better appreciation for his life. But I’m curious as to if there’s anything you guys have seen or read, or, you know, anything like that, that has sort of touched on this topic? And what were your guys’s thoughts, feelings, opinions on these things?
Marc Cuiriz 4:29
So I think there’s two different versions that I was thinking about. Because there’s the one where you actually get to see the world without you or a different version of you. So like, back to the future. Right? Something changes come back. Things are different. But then there’s the other one, like, oh, Spider Man, no way home anywhere they just forget you completely. But your your the effects of your actions of your life before that moment are still there. Like, you saved them. MJ’s life MJ is still alive. Right? There’s a they don’t remember you, but
Marc Cuiriz 6:05
but the impact was still there. Yeah,
Josué Cardona 6:05
yeah. So I think there’s a big difference of you know, everybody would be better off if I wasn’t around anymore. Versus the, you know, everybody be better off if I was never born. so I’ve seen both types of stories. Yeah, so I just wanted to put that there. Can we talk about both of them? Or not?
Marc Cuiriz 7:14
Absolutely.
Josué Cardona 7:15
Okay. Okay. Am I missing any in listening? Anything, Lara? Link?
Lara Taylor 7:21
I was gonna say the interesting thing about this topic is that most of the time, and I can’t I I’m sure I’m gonna pull specific ones out of my brain, because I know, I’ve seen several forms of this kind of theme. But most of the time, the message is that like, people are better with you around and you don’t want to like the message is supposed to be most of the time that yeah, you should appreciate your life or appreciate being around because people are better off with you there than without you. But the first example that came to my mind was butterfly effect. And the Director’s Cut, where literally he
Josué Cardona 8:06
that’s an Ashton Kutcher joint, right?
Lara Taylor 8:08
That’s an Ashton Kutcher joint, and in the Director’s Cut the alternate ending, where he basically kills himself in the womb, and is not born ever. And apparen...
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By Geek Therapy Network#343: Marc and the crew talk about It’s a Wonderful Life, and imagining a world without you in it. We discuss stories about removing yourself from the timeline and how and why it resonates with people.
Transcript
Josué Cardona 0:11
Welcome to GT radio on the Geek Therapy network here at Geek Therapy, we believe that the best way to understand each other and ourselves is through the media we care about. My name is Josué Cardona. And I’m joined by link Keller.
Link Keller 0:21
Hello, friends,
Josué Cardona 0:23
Lara Taylor.
Lara Taylor 0:24
Hey,
Josué Cardona 0:25
the one and only Marc Cuiriz.
Marc Cuiriz 0:27
Hello,
Josué Cardona 0:29
Marc, it’s your turn. What are we talking about today?
Marc Cuiriz 0:30
All right. So it’s funny because I feel like I baited all of you guys, I was talking about how I recently went to go see, It’s a Wonderful Life. And yet, we thought we were gonna go Christmas movie type thing. And I was like, nope, let’s get deep in nitty gritty. And I wanted to talk more about the idea of exploring what life would be like, if you or if someone didn’t exist or was no longer around. So to kind of give a little context for that. For those that haven’t seen, It’s a Wonderful Life. It kind of talks a little bit about that without getting, I mean, I don’t know, I guess
Lara Taylor 1:17
spoiler alert for an eighty year old movie.
Marc Cuiriz 1:20
Exactly. I was like
Josué Cardona 1:22
It’s in the public domain at this point, like, yeah.
Marc Cuiriz 1:25
So it was was It’s A Wonderful Life. It talks about this guy named George Bailey and his life. And on Christmas Eve, He has this very like he’s reaching this very focal point in his life of deciding whether or not he should kill himself to sort of save his family’s business and save his family from potential, like fraud and whatever, and just basically getting destroyed. So he decides that maybe he’s better off dead than alive, because then at least people will be better off. And so then his guardian angel comes by, and sort of shows him a brief glimpse of what life would be like as if he had never existed. And he realizes, like, all the lives, he’s touched in the people he’s impacted, and all the good he’s done, despite giving up his own dreams, to travel the world and things like that. And ultimately, it’s he gains an appreciation for his life. And then when he kind of returns, he’s very grateful. And then everybody sort of comes together to sort of help him out because he’d spent his entire life helping out everybody else. Now, when he’s finally in trouble, everybody comes together to help him. So yeah,
Josué Cardona 2:46
so the bait and switch was, hey, let’s watch Christmas movies.
Marc Cuiriz 2:50
JK, let’s talk about some dark deep stuff.
Lara Taylor 2:55
AKA Mark wants therapy on the show.
Marc Cuiriz 2:59
That is, you know, that is one spin to it. Or it could just be I just like, a deep philosophical questions. And so then I like to hear your perspectives on it.
Lara Taylor 3:12
That’s true.
Josué Cardona 3:13
I’m curious, why. Why is this question on your mind?
Marc Cuiriz 3:21
So So here in Chicago, there is like a whole event thing with this movie, because it plays at the Music Box Theater. And when people go there, they have like, they go completely decked out with Christmas stuff. There’s like a Christmas sing along. And then it goes into the movie. And it’s like a, it’s a fun little show. So my first time going to one even see this movie and to experiencing the show was last year. And when I watched it last year, it got it. I left the movie sort of thinking, I was like, Oh, that’s a very interesting way to kind of view things. And I was thinking to myself, like, Oh, I wonder about the people maybe I’ve impacted or how do I want my legacy to sort of play out in life? You know, like, how do I want that to be carried? Or how do I want people to view me so then this time around? One I was very exhausted watching this movie, because he watched it a 9:45 at night. So I was already all sorts of crazy wonky.
Josué Cardona 4:26
at what speed did you watch it?
Marc Cuiriz 4:27
normal speed. So yeah, had I really slow myself down. But so when we when we left it, this time around, that’s when the idea of not being around or being better off dead was like something that I started thinking about because then I started thinking about other forms of media or other things that I’ve seen that I’ve touched on that this is kind of a throwback for me, but I the first thing that came to my head immediately It was this fairly oddparents episode where, where he makes the wish that he wishes he was never born. But instead of showing like how everyone’s life was worse, it shows that everybody’s life was in fact better because he wasn’t born. And then the whole episode is like, now we’re gonna throw you in this pit of children who wish they were never born and made the world a better place. But what ultimately saved him was, there was one person that was negatively impacted by him not being around, and I think that was 2d. And so because of her pain, he was unable to like, nope, see, look. And now I’m back at now back to making everybody’s life somewhat miserable again, but at least he’s back. And now he has a better appreciation for his life. But I’m curious as to if there’s anything you guys have seen or read, or, you know, anything like that, that has sort of touched on this topic? And what were your guys’s thoughts, feelings, opinions on these things?
Marc Cuiriz 4:29
So I think there’s two different versions that I was thinking about. Because there’s the one where you actually get to see the world without you or a different version of you. So like, back to the future. Right? Something changes come back. Things are different. But then there’s the other one, like, oh, Spider Man, no way home anywhere they just forget you completely. But your your the effects of your actions of your life before that moment are still there. Like, you saved them. MJ’s life MJ is still alive. Right? There’s a they don’t remember you, but
Marc Cuiriz 6:05
but the impact was still there. Yeah,
Josué Cardona 6:05
yeah. So I think there’s a big difference of you know, everybody would be better off if I wasn’t around anymore. Versus the, you know, everybody be better off if I was never born. so I’ve seen both types of stories. Yeah, so I just wanted to put that there. Can we talk about both of them? Or not?
Marc Cuiriz 7:14
Absolutely.
Josué Cardona 7:15
Okay. Okay. Am I missing any in listening? Anything, Lara? Link?
Lara Taylor 7:21
I was gonna say the interesting thing about this topic is that most of the time, and I can’t I I’m sure I’m gonna pull specific ones out of my brain, because I know, I’ve seen several forms of this kind of theme. But most of the time, the message is that like, people are better with you around and you don’t want to like the message is supposed to be most of the time that yeah, you should appreciate your life or appreciate being around because people are better off with you there than without you. But the first example that came to my mind was butterfly effect. And the Director’s Cut, where literally he
Josué Cardona 8:06
that’s an Ashton Kutcher joint, right?
Lara Taylor 8:08
That’s an Ashton Kutcher joint, and in the Director’s Cut the alternate ending, where he basically kills himself in the womb, and is not born ever. And apparen...