Safety Not Guaranteed (in love or loneliness)

Safety Not Guaranteed, is probably my favourite movie of 2012. I love movies in which all through the movie the audience thinks one way, and at the end there is one scene which brings about a paradigm shift in how the movie is viewed (examples... God Father II, Saving Private Ryan, Hurt Locker). 'Safety Not Guaranteed' falls in the same category. (Disclaimer: Spoilers below...)

The movie is about two misfits finding each other... one of them is Kenneth who is portrayed as a screwy guy who is trying to build a time machine. The other is Dairus who is an intern in a magazine which is following up on Kenneth to find something scandalous to write about. Dairus' boss finds Kenneth's ad in the papers saying 'Partner needed for Time Travel project... Safety Not Guaranteed'. The magazine is bankrupt of good stories. So Darius's boss decides to investigate Kenneth, hoping to find a hoax and expose that to make a good story out of.

Dairus is a very nerdy young girl with zero social skills. Kenneth is pretty much the same. Dairus follows Kenneth and makes contact with him telling him that she was responding to his ad asking for a partner for a Time Travel project. Kenneth and Dairus instantly connect! Kenneth says that he will 'train' Dairus to see if she will be a worthy partner. During the training Dairus realizes that Kenneth is actually admirable in his own way.

Kenneth asks Dairus why she wants to time travel, she makes up a story. When she asks Kenneth why he wants to time travel, he says that he wanted to find his ex girl friend and save her from dying. Dairus does some research and finds that Kenneth's girl friend wasn't dead after all. She meets her and gets confirmation that Kenneth was not a normal guy and that she was not his girl friend either. Kenneth's mask is off, or so the audience thinks...

At this point the audience is expecting that Kenneth will be exposed as a screwy guy who is trying to trap Dairus or is upto something else nefarious. But the movie takes a sudden turn, a turn in which Kenneth becomes the genius who actually get the time machine going, and asks Dairus to join him, which of course she happily does. When he turns on the machine he is no longer the awkward guy unsure about himself, he confidently tells her, "I know this works..." in an electrifying moment Kenneth and Dairus transcend into time.

As you are watching and waiting... astounded that it actually worked that Dairus was a genius after all, there is an ending clip which is a video shot by Dairus as she interviewed him earlier about the reasons as to why he posted the ad wanting a partner to time travel with... one is surprised how confidently and decisively the spooky oddball Dairus gives his reasons for wanting a partner

Kenneth: To go alone or to choose a partner??? when you choose a partner you have to have compromises... sacrifices... it is the price you pay. Do I want to follow my every whim and desire as I go through time and space? Absolutely! BUT at the end of the day, do I need someone when I am doubting myself and am insecure and my heart's failing me do I need someone who when the heat gets hot, has my back.
Dairus: Do you?
Kenneth: I do...

At the end of the movie you realize that Kenneth wasn't a hoax after all, he was a genius. He had everything he needed. His dream of time travel was within his grasp, but he did not want to go it alone. He wanted to have someone to share it with and decided to post the ad for a partner. The whole movie is about going through all the troubles to find a partner with whom the compromises and sacrifices are worth the joys of shared experiences.

Sharing involves sacrifice. To not want to go out of the comfort zone and not want to share life is not just cowardice, it is foolishness. After all, in life Safety is Not Guaranteed  it is through the sacrifices and compromises that we will experience the joy of sharing life. The problem with modern life is that people want to play it safe and so would rather live it alone than risk a shared living, it is not a wonder that for the first time in human history there are more single adults than married ones.

What is lost on modernism, with declining marriage rates, is that even in singleness, Safety is Never Guaranteed. Christ wasn't safe even as he was single. Married or single our earthly Safety is Not Guaranteed. Thanks be to Christ, our heavenly security indeed is... for we are steadfastly loved! That Safety is Not Guaranteed in singleness or marriage isn't a big deal for those who trust in the Lord...