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Time Changer

 Time Changer
type
TVTItem
 Time Changer
label
Time Changer
 Time Changer
page
TimeChanger
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comment
Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })Russell Carlisle, a liberal theologian at a seminary in the late 1800s, has written a book on morality. The oldest preacher on the campus is warning him that the book is wrong, but he's been acting crazy for a while. Others at the seminary want it out so much that they are changing the rules of the seminary from unanimous to majority vote so it can get a seal of approval from the place.It turns out that the oldest preacher on the campus has invented a time machine and seen the future; it's only since then that he's seemed crazy. He offers to send our protagonist forward. The rules are, the time traveler and his things can travel forward, but nothing from the future can travel back. Oh, and don't look up your own future (it's never spelled out why). There is a sending unit right there; after a set amount of time, he'll be retrieved.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })So our protagonist is sent forward to Next Sunday A.D., figuratively speaking—specifically, 200X. He deals well enough with most of the technology, but the culture throws him—though he is isolated even in his own time. Dress codes, the lack of respect for elders, and films and TV throw him. Even the Christians of his era find him a bit kooky...This film includes what may be the most creative way of showing corruption in film without showing it: church group enters theater; Hard Cut to protagonist running out shouting the page quote. You have to have an idea what blaspheming is, but if you do...
 Time Changer
fetched
2020-06-21T00:43:52Z
 Time Changer
parsed
2020-06-24T05:12:39Z
 Time Changer
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Time Changer / int_1ec3eb0a
type
Take Our Word for It
 Time Changer / int_1ec3eb0a
comment
Take Our Word for It: If it is evil and it can be shown entirely visually, it will not be shown — even when that requires creative filming.
 Time Changer / int_1ec3eb0a
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 Time Changer / int_1ec3eb0a
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Time Changer / int_1ec3eb0a
 Time Changer / int_259d5879
type
Anachronism Stew
 Time Changer / int_259d5879
comment
Anachronism Stew: Unless the main character was so cloistered that he didn't know anything about his own society (which is implied to be the case), his comments about the ubiquitousness of prostitution or the starving children on every street corner in the future ring false, since in his time they were worse.
 Time Changer / int_259d5879
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Time Changer / int_259d5879
 Time Changer / int_30202b05
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Censorship Bureau
 Time Changer / int_30202b05
comment
Censorship Bureau: Moral codes, especially man-made moral codes, are a major theme of this film.
 Time Changer / int_30202b05
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Time Changer / int_30202b05
 Time Changer / int_32e1174d
type
Nobody Ever Complained Before
 Time Changer / int_32e1174d
comment
Nobody Ever Complained Before: Russell gets this response from a store manager when complaining about a display of skimpily-dressed mannequins.
 Time Changer / int_32e1174d
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Time Changer / int_32e1174d
 Time Changer / int_3517000d
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Mad Scientist
 Time Changer / int_3517000d
comment
Mad Scientist: He's mad by the time we meet him, anyway.
 Time Changer / int_3517000d
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Time Changer / int_3517000d
 Time Changer / int_3c5ae1a1
type
Schizo Tech
 Time Changer / int_3c5ae1a1
comment
Schizo Tech: Solar-powered time machine.
 Time Changer / int_3c5ae1a1
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Time Changer / int_3c5ae1a1
 Time Changer / int_3fca462c
type
Deus ex Machina
 Time Changer / int_3fca462c
comment
Deus ex Machina: Perhaps literally.
 Time Changer / int_3fca462c
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Time Changer / int_3fca462c
 Time Changer / int_4acee1ed
type
Fish out of Temporal Water
 Time Changer / int_4acee1ed
comment
Fish out of Temporal Water: By the standards of his own time, Carlisle is very forward-thinking and progressive. By 21st-century standards, not so much.
 Time Changer / int_4acee1ed
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Time Changer / int_4acee1ed
 Time Changer / int_551c5085
type
It's a Wonderful Plot
 Time Changer / int_551c5085
comment
It's a Wonderful Plot: Russell Carlisle gets to see what the future would be like if he publishes his book: It's exactly like our time, which he finds horrifying. As a result, he decides to re-edit his book and not publish it after all. ....We should probably not overthink that.
 Time Changer / int_551c5085
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Time Changer / int_551c5085
 Time Changer / int_5539b84f
type
Corrupt Church
 Time Changer / int_5539b84f
comment
Corrupt Church: The modern-day church that Russell Carlisle attends, according to his view of Christian morality from his time period, as it has become more of a social club that is less concerned about having its members be exhorted to live holy and righteous lives before God.
 Time Changer / int_5539b84f
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Time Changer / int_5539b84f
 Time Changer / int_5f251b1b
type
Poor Man's Porn
 Time Changer / int_5f251b1b
comment
Poor Man's Porn: Russell complains to a clothing store manager that a mannequin dressed in lingerie will "arouse impurity" among the customers. (We don't actually see the offending display, but the store looks a lot more like Sears than Victoria's Secret.)
 Time Changer / int_5f251b1b
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Time Changer / int_5f251b1b
 Time Changer / int_6b05b601
type
Jerkass Has a Point
 Time Changer / int_6b05b601
comment
Jerkass Has a Point: Russell complains to a store manager that a display of skimpily-dressed mannequins might tempt young people to lustful thoughts. The manager curtly replies that Russell is the only person who has ever complained. We're presumably meant to take away that society has become callous to indecency. But from the manager's viewpoint, it's a pretty solid argument that the display is not really offensive if nobody has in fact been offended.
 Time Changer / int_6b05b601
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Time Changer / int_6b05b601
 Time Changer / int_6b35bdff
type
Serious Business
 Time Changer / int_6b35bdff
comment
Serious Business: Seminary approval. The book would have been published either way, but getting the approval is considered so critical that Carlisle doesn't want to send the manuscript in without it.
 Time Changer / int_6b35bdff
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Time Changer / int_6b35bdff
 Time Changer / int_6ef09297
type
Masquerade
 Time Changer / int_6ef09297
comment
Masquerade: Russell Carlisle is told not to let anyone know when he's from.
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Time Changer / int_6ef09297
 Time Changer / int_709fe8ac
type
Culture Blind
 Time Changer / int_709fe8ac
comment
Culture Blind: The protagonist appears to be blissfully unaware of how society really works in both the past and the future.
 Time Changer / int_709fe8ac
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Time Changer / int_709fe8ac
 Time Changer / int_7a12aabf
type
New Media Are Evil
 Time Changer / int_7a12aabf
comment
New Media Are Evil: The decline of civilization is blamed on The Hays Code in films, because it made films seem okay when they weren't.
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Time Changer / int_7a12aabf
 Time Changer / int_7fe8b5b5
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Time Machine
 Time Changer / int_7fe8b5b5
comment
Time Machine: Solar-powered!
 Time Changer / int_7fe8b5b5
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Time Changer / int_7fe8b5b5
 Time Changer / int_82da9d46
type
Mundane Fantastic
 Time Changer / int_82da9d46
comment
Mundane Fantastic: It's a time travel film, but the time travel is the only Sci-Fi element there.
 Time Changer / int_82da9d46
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Time Changer / int_82da9d46
 Time Changer / int_94f517db
type
Discretion Shot
 Time Changer / int_94f517db
comment
Discretion Shot: Don't expect to see any actual depictions of the modern immorality that shocks Russell Carlisle.
 Time Changer / int_94f517db
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 Time Changer / int_94f517db
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Time Changer / int_94f517db
 Time Changer / int_96e5792c
type
Moral Guardians
 Time Changer / int_96e5792c
comment
Moral Guardians: In what's likely a rare example, our protagonist is one. Russell is dismayed to find that his attempts at enforcing morality in the 2000s merely make him come across as an out-of-touch prude, since not everyone accepts the Fundamentalist Christian perspective for morality.
 Time Changer / int_96e5792c
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Time Changer / int_96e5792c
 Time Changer / int_9c6ba43a
type
Values Dissonance
 Time Changer / int_9c6ba43a
comment
Values Dissonance: The point of the trip through time, even In-Universe.
 Time Changer / int_9c6ba43a
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Time Changer / int_9c6ba43a
 Time Changer / int_9d6427ec
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Time Travel
 Time Changer / int_9d6427ec
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Time Travel
 Time Changer / int_9d6427ec
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Time Changer / int_9d6427ec
 Time Changer / int_a0566bcc
type
Ye Goode Olde Days
 Time Changer / int_a0566bcc
comment
Ye Goode Olde Days: The film treats 1890 (and by extension, American society up to around 1930, when the Hays Code was introduced) as far better, as the time-traveling protagonist complains about rampant disobedient kids, alcohol abuse, crime, poverty and blasphemy. Of course, those things were common not only in 1890, but before and into the 1930s too (the alcohol problem is especially funny, as people took it so seriously this led to Prohibition). He would also have to be extremely sheltered if a film character blaspheming God's name sent him fleeing in shock from a theater.
 Time Changer / int_a0566bcc
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Time Changer / int_a0566bcc
 Time Changer / int_a1b141f4
type
My God, What Have I Done?
 Time Changer / int_a1b141f4
comment
My God, What Have I Done?: Russell realizes what society would become — and has become — if he allowed his book to be published that advocated morality without Jesus Christ as its author and final authority.
 Time Changer / int_a1b141f4
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Time Changer / int_a1b141f4
 Time Changer / int_abc55125
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Character Filibuster
 Time Changer / int_abc55125
comment
Character Filibuster: Frequently. At least some of them are literal sermons.
 Time Changer / int_abc55125
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Time Changer / int_abc55125
 Time Changer / int_b0bce7aa
type
Selective Obliviousness
 Time Changer / int_b0bce7aa
comment
Selective Obliviousness: When the question is "will you try out the secret time machine?" Anderson simply will not take "no" for an answer.
 Time Changer / int_b0bce7aa
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Time Changer / int_b0bce7aa
 Time Changer / int_b593baf1
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Author Filibuster
 Time Changer / int_b593baf1
comment
Author Filibuster: Russell gets to give several monologues on his views about Christian morality, even quite literally preaching sermons to a church.
 Time Changer / int_b593baf1
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Time Changer / int_b593baf1
 Time Changer / int_b6a754a5
type
Caught Up in the Rapture
 Time Changer / int_b6a754a5
comment
Caught Up in the Rapture: Gets a humorous reference. When Russell vanishes to return to his own time, two onlookers worriedly speculate that they've just missed the Rapture.
 Time Changer / int_b6a754a5
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Time Changer / int_b6a754a5
 Time Changer / int_b7f4aa9
type
Moral Dissonance
 Time Changer / int_b7f4aa9
comment
Moral Dissonance: This is a film about, among other things, the evil of films and TV in general. Indeed, it's an example of The Moral Substitute. It was offered for purchase on televangelist Jack Van Impe's show, as are similar low-budget faith-based films. They're sold to viewers through mail order, screened for church groups, and/or aired on channels like Trinity Broadcasting Network rather than given wide theatrical release.
 Time Changer / int_b7f4aa9
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Time Changer / int_b7f4aa9
 Time Changer / int_bbc77bb5
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Hard Truth Aesop
 Time Changer / int_bbc77bb5
comment
Hard Truth Aesop: Russell's original manuscript was actually rather progressive (for him), as it advocated being a good person and doing good deeds because it's the morally right thing to do, rather than doing so because of your religious faith. In the end, he's convinced by the "evil" future where people actually follow this and have become more non-religious as a result, that you can only be a good person if you accept Christianity.
 Time Changer / int_bbc77bb5
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Time Changer / int_bbc77bb5
 Time Changer / int_be8f3491
type
The Theme Park Version
 Time Changer / int_be8f3491
comment
The Theme Park Version: Because a fundamentalist Christian film can't show the full reality of modern (im)morality (nor that of 1890).
 Time Changer / int_be8f3491
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Time Changer / int_be8f3491
 Time Changer / int_c41114f6
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Year X
 Time Changer / int_c41114f6
comment
Year X: When Russell Carlisle came in the future and looked at the newspaper, the last two years of 20xx were obscured and when he yelled the date out loud the 20xx was cut off by a car honk. Also, at the end of the movie, they are attempting to send a Bible into the future but it will not go if the end of the world already happened by then, so he keeps on changing the date earlier to see when the end of the world takes place, and the movie cuts off somewhere in the 2000s.
 Time Changer / int_c41114f6
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Time Changer / int_c41114f6
 Time Changer / int_ca9e3345
type
Temporal Mutability
 Time Changer / int_ca9e3345
comment
Temporal Mutability: Upon seeing how immoral the future would be if he publishes his forthcoming book, Russell Carlisle decides to revise his manuscript to prevent this future from taking place, becoming the titular "Time Changer." Given that the future he saw is more or less exactly like our present day, though, it may not be been sufficiently explored how he could have succeeded.
 Time Changer / int_ca9e3345
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Time Changer / int_ca9e3345
 Time Changer / int_ce68d46b
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Next Sunday A.D.
 Time Changer / int_ce68d46b
comment
Next Sunday A.D.
 Time Changer / int_ce68d46b
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Time Changer / int_ce68d46b
 Time Changer / int_e1721fd1
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Antiquated Linguistics
 Time Changer / int_e1721fd1
comment
Antiquated Linguistics: Among other outdated speech patterns, Russell does not use contractions.
 Time Changer / int_e1721fd1
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Time Changer / int_e1721fd1
 Time Changer / int_e563bf09
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Insistent Terminology
 Time Changer / int_e563bf09
comment
Insistent Terminology/Single-Issue Wonk: The reason Russell's book couldn't get unanimous approval was that it advocated good morality but didn't insist that Jesus Christ be connected to it. To Anderson, this is worse than nothing because Jesus is the authority behind the moral code.
 Time Changer / int_e563bf09
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 Time Changer / int_f68664dc
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Science Is Bad
 Time Changer / int_f68664dc
comment
Science Is Bad: Zig-Zagged. Science itself isn't necessarily seen as bad, and Anderson's Time Machine apparently works by scientific principles of some sort. But Russell Carlisle is stunned when a teacher takes issue with him preaching Christianity in a secular science classroom: "Scientific support of the Scripture only means the science is true. Because we know that the Scripture already is." The thing is, even well before Russell's own time this would have been correctly seen as a theological claim with no bearing on The Scientific Method either way. And Russell certainly wouldn't have had to leave the 1800s if he wanted to meet any scientists who disbelieved the Bible.
 Time Changer / int_f68664dc
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 Time Changer / int_f76842b1
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The Fundamentalist
 Time Changer / int_f76842b1
comment
The Fundamentalist: The protagonist often comes across as one.
 Time Changer / int_f76842b1
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 Time Changer / int_fc47c7f9
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The Future Is Shocking
 Time Changer / int_fc47c7f9
comment
The Future Is Shocking: The entire purpose of the film is to have its protagonist, a 19th century theology professor, be shocked at how immoral the present day is.
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Time Changer

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Time Changer
hasFeature
Antiquated Linguistics / int_d5b76b7b
 Time Changer
hasFeature
Christian Fiction / int_d5b76b7b
 Time Changer
hasFeature
Corrupt Church / int_d5b76b7b
 Time Changer
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It's a Wonderful Plot / int_d5b76b7b
 Time Changer
hasFeature
Poor Man's Porn / int_d5b76b7b
 Time Changer
seeAlso
Time Changer
 Time Changer
hasFeature
Ye Goode Olde Days / int_d5b76b7b
 Time Changer
hasFeature
Year X / int_d5b76b7b