Limitations of Time Travel in "See You Yesterday"
“See you Yesterday” (2019), produced by Spike Lee and directed by Stefan Bristol, subverts the exclusionary narratives presented in most time travel movies up to this point. “See you Yesterday” is notable because the heroes of the movie are two Black children- science geniuses who invent a time travel machine which they can use to go back one day in the past. Most other science fiction movies featuring time travel have White, male protagonists, so “See you Yesterday” is an important step away from these confines. However, the film does fall into some limiting traps of the time travel narrative.
As with comic book stories as discussed in last week’s reading, stories which include time travel can end up with a capsule-like world in which everything returns to the status quo. This is true in “See you Yesterday”, with CJ failing to prevent her older brother’s death in every version of the past she returns to. The film ends vaguely, with no resolution or solution to Calvin’s death. The film contends with important themes such as the omnipresence of anti-black violence, and the recurring death of Calvin comments on this. However, the lack of resolution is a little confusing and disheartening to viewers.
It's interesting how you compare this to what we talked about last week, I hadn't made that connection but you are right. She is fighting the return to the status quo, like an unseen force that wants to "balance the scale" and make sure that someone dies. I felt the ending was more uplifting, like she was determined to make a change no matter what the odds were and what she had to sacrifice.
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