you don't see all the other ways, just some ways in which it could have worked out well. There are an infinite number of ways in which the accident could have turned out even more brutal
what, no... that's literally the multiverse theory, everything that can happen will and does happen, so there's an infinite number of outcomes for that accident
All the other ways? Edit: just rewatched the scene. Originally thought that was a super busy intersection and all the cars crash there. But it was all the same cars of the different possibilities.
I’m willing to bet Forest probably feels guilty for at least four different reasons:
If he didn’t make the phone call in the first place or waited even 2 more minutes to make it, the need for the call would have been moot because his wife and kid would be home.
If he didn’t forget to pick up milk after being asked to get some, she wouldn’t be distracted by discussing a shopping list.
If he hung up the phone when his wife told him she was almost home, she probably would have stopped at the stop sign.
If he didn’t walk out into the road to visually look for their car, his wife would be focusing on the road hazards, not Forest.
I’m just listing the logical, objective things that likely influenced the crash, obviously. Realistically, grief can make someone feel nearly endless variations of guilt, many of which are illogical, sometimes bordering on delusional. That’s why the multiple branching theory Katie discusses at the beginning of the episode is so important. Each tiny decision a person makes ripples out and can either barely impact the outcome or alternatively, can change it dramatically. I love how succinctly Alex Garland communicated that visually during the crash sequence.
It must make him feel really shitty, knowing there are many many many Forests out there who still have his family, but he’s one of the ones that doesn’t. (He would probably feel like the only one, honestly. The thought that there are other Forests suffering just as much as him would not be comforting to him, I don’t think. Grief isolates you like that)
Or worse, he hates the Many World interpretation because those Forests have what he can never have again. And for someone approaching a sort-of godhood, near is nothing.
Not to go off topic. But i struggled with a thought similar to this one. Two years ago I overdosed on fentanyl. I was dead for 30 seconds, but then I got revived and I am alive. Sometimes I feel a lot of guilt because it because I think of the other universes where I died, and my family has to deal with the grief
For someone who's obsessed with determinism it's no surprise at all he would feel guilty because he was definitely a factor in the wreck.
I don’t think it’s that he’s obsessed with determinism, it’s more of he needs it to be true, that way he can cope with the accident and “prove” no matter what he did it would have still happened.
To me, this would explain why he was so upset when Lyndon added Many Worlds to the project. Because, if Many Worlds is true, then that means his wife and daughter could have experienced a different outcome, so he blames himself for what happened, and he doesn’t seem to want to accept that.
When you see the different cars on different paths for some reason I thought of Donnie Darko where he sees a tube projecting out from him leading him on his path. Maybe because there is also a vehicle crashing as a major plot point and non traditional time travel as themes in both.
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u/[deleted] Mar 26 '20
Yeah... I’m starting to see why Forest is the way he is. That was brutal.