By His Bootstraps


I could only find 3 comparisons when I googled FAQATT and 'By His Bootstraps' which is sort of odd, because this is so obviously taken from that plot. Robert Heinlein wrote the story in 1941 and it is about a guy who travels through time coming back to his previous self at least three different times and in one episode sequence 3 versions of him have a free for all. He winds up going way ahead in time (but not as far as he would eventually be), and then realizing that he has to set up the sequences he lived through to make them happen by bringing himself forward and back each of those times, practically pushing his previous versions back and forth. It turns causality on its head.

So anyone who thinks they might have written an original story and FAQATT is somehow 'stolen', go read Heinlein. Probably one of the best short stories about the idiocy of time travel.

I'd give it a 6 or 7 for effort and cheerfulness, and Anna Faris. She is cute in everything (especially switching from brunette to blond - that was a scary movie moment, wasn't it?) I enjoyed the parts of the movie I watched but when I realized that I had 'seen' it before, I stopped. That was about when the one character stopped the other two from entering the women's lav, so they could experience that nuclear winter, by begging them NOT to go in, and then 5 minutes later, urging them to go in, and it stopped being interesting. And you mean after 6 months of running, he just now figured out that maybe a weapon of sorts might come in handy? I still like causality in my movies, thank you.

reply

By His Bootstraps is just also about the concept of time travel. It's a great story, but it's no more like this movie than other time travel stories.

That's probably why you didn't find many comparisons.

In fact, By His Bootstraps was all about interaction with the main character's different selves in different time periods and his realization about the meaning of each interaction when he enters it through the other role. He does things because they needed to have been done, says things because they needed to have been said.

In FAQATT, they not only don't interact with their selves from other times, they make it a point not to interact. And if I remember correctly, the only real direct interaction between any of them and their future/past selves is when Past Pete walks in on them in the men's room and runs out.

It's not based on anything, it's not taken from anything. It's just another story about time travel, which is actually kind of entertaining because most time travel stories aren't in this style.

reply