I was never a fan of “That 70’s Show,” though I suspect that was more about timing than anything, for it aired during years when almost every day was a sixteen work hour day for me. I just didn’t watch much television, leaving a lacuna in my personal cultural memory. I did know that Ashton Kutcher was near the top of the celebrity heap, and recognized him when I saw the 2004 film “The Butterfly Effect.” Classified by some as science fiction, it was really more supernatural fiction, and named after a notion from chaos theory and complexity science. We’ll circle back to that in a bit.
Kutcher’s character, Evan, is part of a trio of friends who experience a series of traumas during childhood. In each instance, Evan blacks out. As an adult, he realizes that he can travel back in time to those blacked out moments and change his actions. The film deals with the consequences of these seemingly small changes, each resulting in a completely different life. A decision made in a critical moment at the age of twelve forever changes the future.
It is actually a pretty good film, as the genre goes, though it isn’t for everybody. Critics hated it, but the public seemed to love it, and it made $96 million on a $13 million budget. It is, at least, a lot less weird than a similar film, “Donnie Darko,” which came out three years earlier. Trust me, Donnie Darko probably is not your thing… Continue reading “Butterfly Effect: June 14, 2020”