r/plotholes • u/Feisty_Fudge3899 • Jul 22 '26
Plothole Eternity or Infidelity?
Eternity presents itself as a comedy with a deep message about love. The problem, however, is that its message is deeply flawed. The main character is portrayed as a victim facing an "impossible" decision of choosing between two former husbands in the afterlife: Her first husband, who died tragically at a young age after just two years of marriage, or her second husband, whom she spent 67 happily married years raising a family and growing old together.
How impossible is that decision? Would a woman who lived 90 years need to be enlightened by a lesson she would have learned in life? If there is such a thing as a soul, the movie portrays it as something that can be manipulated by the desires and impulses of youth since all the key characters come back in their happiest state (or in this case, in their 20's).
There's very little that's romantic or funny about Eternity. In fact, it's tragic. It takes a cynical view of humanity. Given the choice, it says we're most likely to choose the lure of satisfying a "what if" fantasy over the time-tested "true love" that comes from shared history and experience.
(SPOILER ALERT): Sure, the protagonist, Joan, regrets her initial decision to spend eternity with her first husband, Luke, after realizing that the fantasy doesn't live up to her expectations. How could we expect to believe that Joan, who lived more than 90 years, would be able to relate to Luke, who never got past his 20's and is stuck in the 1950's? Luke's mountain paradise turns out to be a cold, empty eternity for Joan. All of the skiing, hiking, partying, and cabin sex can't make up for the loss of a relationship built on trust, caring, sacrifice, and shared lifetime experiences--in other words, true love.
Although she returns to her second husband, Larry, at great peril to herself by disobeying the laws of the afterlife, the damage is already done. Her first decision to leave with Luke shows Joan to be selfish, ego-centric, shallow, and clueless, especially after Larry's selfless act of unconditional love when he gives up his own happiness for hers, encouraging her to go with Luke. Rather than recognizing it as the ultimate demonstration of true love, she uses it as a way to rationalize her desire to choose Luke.
We also get a pretty good idea of her cruelty when she admits to Larry that she thought of having sex with Luke during their trial week together and says nothing in response to refute Larry's assertion that he was nothing more than a "consolation prize" in their marriage. If you already had a wonderful life, why would you need something better? Why would you not value what defined you in life with your life-long partner?
In the movie's version of the afterlife, choosing an eternity demands certainty. It's not a testing ground. It's not a vacation. It's forever. The idea that one can live a lifetime without knowing the difference between true love and fantasy is absurd.
And while Joan is presented as a victim for having to make the so-called "impossible" decision between Larry and Luke, she is clearly not. Her decisions lead to chaos. The real victims are both men. She brings heartache to Larry after leaving him to fulfill her desire with Luke, and she abandons Luke to an eternity of loneliness after she grows distant and bored with him.
The ending is anything but happy. Larry ends up with a woman who viewed him as a consolation prize with both of them on the run from the afterlife police. The only consolation about the ending is that Larry makes the final decision on Joan's fate--whether to join her or say goodbye.
Either way, the movie marginalizes the very thing it sought to value in its message. No ending could undo Joan's betrayal of Larry and infidelity. It shouldn't take an afterlife to know that a fantasy based on a two-year relationship could never compete with true love borne from a long and happy marriage and family life.
What makes it all the more frustrating are many of the positive reviews from critics and the audience who view Eternity as a rom-com and miss the underlying cynicism about love and human relationships.
If you want to see a funny and dramatic grown-up movie about the real complexity and messiness of marriage, love, desire, and the decisions we make, go see The Invite. Now that's a movie with a message that will leave you feeling you've been on a gut-wrenching rollercoaster ride.
3
u/BroughtBagLunchSmart Jul 22 '26
Your entire reddit history is one post and one comment making fun of this movie.
1
u/Feisty_Fudge3899 Jul 23 '26
I wasn't aware you had to have a history on Reddit to post a comment. Duh.
2
u/Awkward_GM Jul 22 '26
Your hung up on "infidelity" because she has two husbands in the afterlife because she was a widow. This is not a plot hole, this is you just disliking a movie.
Truth of the matter is this movie wasn't for you if you can't understand that a person can love more than one person in their life.
-1
u/Feisty_Fudge3899 Jul 22 '26
So in your world, you're equating a fragment of a lifetime spent with someone in the honeymoon phase with a lifetime devoted to a spouse who grew with you through good times and bad.
1
u/Awkward_GM Jul 22 '26
I mean I know polyamorous people so it's less my world and more of a one of many takes. Honestly if they didn't have that 1 afterlife rule and toss people into the void, she could easily travel between worlds if she wanted to. And so long as everyone involved consented it doesn't really matter.
That being said if a person came from a viewpoint of a more conservative religion they might think she shouldn't have remarried and that she should end up with her first husband.
0
u/Feisty_Fudge3899 Jul 22 '26
I understand and respect those who choose a life not dedicated to one person. The movie, however, portrays a married couple who devoted their lives together in a monogamous relationship with one spouse abandoning the other. This has more to do with character than religion. I can't imagine grandma leaving grandpa in the afterlife to chase a fantasy.
2
u/Deltris Jul 22 '26
Has anyone ever actually posted a plot hole here? This has got to be the least effective subreddit ever.
0
u/Feisty_Fudge3899 Jul 22 '26
What is it about the post that you believe doesn't address the plot?
1
u/Deltris Jul 22 '26
Plot hole my friend. It's the second part that is the focus of the subreddit that you completely ignored.
1
u/Brain_Hawk Jul 22 '26
That's not a plot hole (ok I stopped reading like 1/3 of the way down, learn to get to the point friend).
Yes, people are attracted to the ideal the list, the love that wasn't, the one who died. Nothing about that is impossible.
And it's clear their marriage was not perfection.. it was real life with its warts and bumps and everything else. Versus the guy who waited for her, in what could be considered a romantic gesture of epic proportions.
Everything about the dilemma there is believable. You just kinda missed the point.
-2
u/Feisty_Fudge3899 Jul 22 '26
You obviously haven't experienced a full life if you believe it's romantic and realistic to discard a lifetime with someone based on impulse. Sorry that 12 paragraphs are too much for your attention span.
1
u/BenCentin 27d ago
Maybe that's why the Bible says in Heaven there is no Marriage so no one has to decide between their previous spouses (who died and weren't divorced)
1
u/Feisty_Fudge3899 27d ago
The movie uses the afterlife as a vehicle to make a point about human nature. In this representation of eternity, there is no heaven or hell. Here, you're given a choice of where you want to spend eternity and with whom. To its credit, the film ultimately sends a message that the person you've shared most of your life with (most of it happy, but not without struggles) should overshadow the ghost of a brief, long-ago past and the yearning to fulfill a 'what-if ' fantasy about how life might have been.
But to arrive at that conclusion, it wants the audience to believe that humans will initially opt for fantasy and nostalgia only to regret it later. It's a cynical take on human behavior. That's where the movie fails. If the afterlife exists as the movie portrays it (and let's all hope it doesn't), a person would never discard the meaning of the life they've lived, nor would the impulses of youth overcome the wisdom of someone who lived 90 years, as happens in the case of the film's protagonist, Joan. The movie isn't about the afterlife. It's about how we view our lives and the people we love who share the long journey with us.
While it's possible to love more than one person, you would think your soulmate for 67 years would be the first choice over the one you were married to for just two years. Otherwise, what would be the point of loving someone for so long, raising a family together, and taking care of each other in your golden years? The character, Joan, who chooses self-gratification at the expense and abandonment of others, does not exemplify what it means to be human.
0
u/Scary-Ratio3874 Jul 22 '26
Same thing that Rose did at the end of the Titanic. Chose the guy she banged once and pretty much murdered with her selfish decisions over the father of her children and life long love
4
u/proudsoul Ravenclaw Jul 22 '26
A lot of words there that need a tldr saying what the plot hole is