It was a Monday afternoon. I had been sitting at my desk all day – doing task after task. It was a work-from-home day.
After work, I checked the local Vue cinema listings and came across ‘The Flash Movie‘ by DC (not Marvel – I am still learning the difference) . I originally wanted to watch ‘The Little Mermaid’, but it wasn’t showing after work hours. I had two free tickets from my Vitality rewards, so I watched The Flash movie instead.
It was an interesting movie; numerous parts moved me because it was relatable. So I have listed all the lessons I learned about life from watching this movie.
Please note, If you have yet to watch this film, there are spoilers below.
What the film was about
Barry (The Flash) uses his superpowers to travel back to save his mother from being killed. However, in going back in time, he alters the future in a catastrophic way where a number of the superheroes that would have saved Earth was never born. In a disastrous event, General Zod returns and threatens destruction
Revisiting the past means revisiting another version of yourself
Barry goes back in time to stop his mother from being killed and his father from being framed for the murder. In doing so, he meets his younger self, who is carefree and different to who he has become. This is simply because his more youthful, carefree self did not live in a reality where his mother died, and his father went to prison. As a result, he took his parents being around for granted. His mum still does his laundry, and he is very much a carefree teenager.
In one scene, Barry tells his younger teen self off for being so carefree; he is furious that his younger self is so calm about everything. Then he realises this is how he would haven’t lost his parents, one to murder and the other to prison.
In this same scene, Batman (who also lost both parents) says to Barry:
I lost my parents. That pain made me who I am. I spent a lifetime trying to right the wrongs of the past, as if fighting crime would bring my parents back. You actually did it.
Batman, from the Flash Movie
However, in turning back time and stopping his mother from being killed, he alters several things, which causes catastrophic events that cannot be averted.
Going back in time cannot fix things
In going back in time, Barry wanted to fix things. He wanted to get his father out of prison and stop his mother from being killed. After he had gone back in time and things did not go according to plan, he was reminded of something his mother once told him:
Not every problem has a solution. Sometimes you have to let go.
Quote from The Flash Movie
This is what gave him the drive to let the past go finally. He had to undo saving his mother from being killed – as painful as it was, he had to do it. Otherwise, stopping his mother from being killed would have caused the extinction of mankind.
Main takeaways
There were moments I was watching this movie that I felt emotional. It was a lesson about life and how things happen, and even though we wish they could be undone, these things cannot be undone. What is done is done. Moving on is essential, and learning to live with the pain of these things can be quite an adjustment.