Tuesday, January 14, 2014

REACTION PAPER: Time Enough At Last (The Twilight Zone S01E08)

In my adaptation, Henry Bemis is a bookworm accountant. Apparently instead of physical books, he lives in his other universes through his Kindle, which he stored with hundreds of novels and poetry books that he indulges in during his free time. I do not think that a present generation wife would be as ironclad and mean as the 1902 Mrs. Bemis. She does nag Henry a couple of times but never does she rip off the pages of the books her husband adores nor does she grab the newspaper while his nose is stuck in it. I believe a 21st century wife would be relatively gentle when handling these sorts of issues.

They also have a son that struggles to establish a bond with his father because every time Henry gets home, he checks his mail and social networking sites before plunging in and forgetting about the real world. As part of the breed that was raised in the comfort of technology, I pretty much see the books as the equivalent of gadgets nowadays. His wife tries to take them out frequently but he obviously declines, which causes the wife to lecture him on the value of spending time with his child to build the foundation of a strong relationship that will create a huge impact on the child’s life.

Similarly, Bemis’s boss is not as condescending today as he was decades earlier; a modern boss would deem it irrational if he haughtily scold and demean his employee for being as shallow as enjoying the company of books so much that he fails to excel in his own job. He speaks to Bemis about his incompetence and warns that if he continues to be irresponsible in what he is regularly paid to do, he could fire him anytime. It should be noted here that the boss does not touch on the subject of Bemis’ passion for printed page, only on that of his performance as a worker. But I could also add that the boss notices Bemis’ engrossment in the games he installed in his iPad, in addition to the books he reads in his Kindle. Back then, playing games probably didn’t supersede reading as the ultimate hobby.

Out of annoyance with his wife feeding him with sermon for breakfast, he hides in their family vault in the basement, carrying with him his Kindle, iPad, Macbook, iPhone, iPod and speakers. An hour later, he hears the same thud sound- an indication of the world’s end. He leaves the vault, and witnesses only the remaining rubble from the universal crash. In the end he realized he was able to save his precious gadgets, but his family was gone. Everyone was practically gone. He has all the time in the world to use his gadgets. While laying them on the ground, side by side, one thing suddenly struck him: he did not bring the chargers with him.

Apple Czarline C. Cruel
2013-59992


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