Days of Future Past

On a recent trip to Phnom Penh, I ran into some folks headed to see the new X-Men movie. Despite not having seen any of the films outside of the major three, I decided to tag along and have a bit of a blast from the past to my middle school days. (Note: supposedly the film company in charge of the franchise has to come out with another movie ever 2 or 3 years in order to not give up the rights to the franchise. Hence the good, bad, and the ugly.) 

So why am I writing about an extremely American movie franchise (there were Khmer subtitles... some things just don't translate...) when my close of service is fast approaching, you ask? Good question.

For starters: X-Men: Days of Future Past, as evidenced by the title, revolves around the idea of going back in time and making different decisions to affect the future. Not your simple time-travel as Ellen Page pulls some Inception-type antics. But when it comes down to it, having a link to the future (and knowing that the world with devolve into war with transformer morphing enemy type killer robots - more on that later) helps one make "better" decisions for the greater good. Would I make different decisions looking back? Whatever happened to "no regrets" and "make do with what you have"? Is there anything I can do in the present to rewrite a better future instead of focusing on what I should have/could have/would have done? Because at the end of the day, I can't get back those days of past and I don't have the power to send my future self back in time. And if I could, would I? It's hard to say. As I look back on my service there is plenty that I would do differently. But if I had I would not have the unique perspective I have at this current moment in time. Maybe I could have studied more Khmer, visited that bong srey down the street more, pushed my projects more, etc. MORE, MORE, MORE. And there it is, I am slipping back into the mentality that I could have/should have done more. That I am not enough. BUT I did what I did. I gave what I could at that time. And that is enough. Because I don't have the power to change the past. The decisions I made in the past (maybe not as extreme as J-Law in blue body paint assassinating a man trying to rid the world of mutants, read: a different race) happened and I must reflect on and learn from those decisions to create a future of which I only really at any point in time have a fuzzy image. As this "Nothing to Envy" article from Yoga Journal reminds: "you lack nothing, because you are, at your deepest core, part of a vast field of energy that contains, potentially, everything you could ever want or need."

Now back to the transformer-morphing killer robots. They were used to destroy the X-men, sure, but that type of technology (gained from exploiting Mystique's genetic make-up) emphasizes the broader notion of adaption. If you haven't seen the movie (spoiler alert: it in essence renders all other X-Men prior to it irrelevant), these robots react to the situations they enter, reading the strengths and weaknesses of their opponent and then morph into the element that causes most destruction. Ex. fight with Iceman, robot turns into fire and melts Iceman. This ability is an important skill in an ever-changing world. While here, I have had to adapt to different situations, adjust and accept to cultural norms, and become a different version of myself. At the beginning this was a defense mechanism, protective layer, immersion strategy, etc. but as I became more comfortable I was able to morph back into the "real me" - like Mystique, except not so blue, scaly and naked...

The theme of adaptation and change isn't limited to the killer robots. The Professor sacrifices the use of his legs to "stand up" and regain his powers. Magnito's character struggles to find the balance between using your powers to destroy or rebuild; bringing up the questions, can we change? or can we be changed from without? Then there's the whole JFK bullet conspiracy theory and that he was a mutant (changing history), and the themes of prejudice, war and genocide. But what really hit home was even if we can't get a glimpse into the future or back to the past, and as change is inevitable, we must always have hope. 

There are plenty of other things to be said about the movie and the franchise, but these have been my musings on what I gleaned as lessons and messages related to my time here with PC. While others (like Wolverine) can be the messengers and inspire us (like the younger version of the Professor) to be our "true" or "best" selves, who we will become and what we will do really comes from within and it takes time and is shaped by experiences, challenges, obstacles, etc. At our greatest moments we may be surrounded by a team of support (fellow X-Men), but there will be no magical powers to change the past (no Ellen Page, most likely. We must build upon our past and present - we cannot rewrite the past. And remember to always have hope.