WATCH SMARTER

Back to the Future Gets Time Travel Wrong. The Terminator Gets It Right.

Here’s the difference.

By 
Some movies do time travel right. Other movies do time travel wrong.
This is not an artistic assessment. It’s a metaphysical truth, at least according to philosophers. Regardless of whether time travel will ever be physically possible, the question we’re going to consider is how it would work logically if it did work at all. In this episode of Watch Smarter, Slate’s video series on the hidden mechanics of pop culture, we explain the philosophical quandaries that mean The Terminator and Harry Potter make a certain kind of sense, while Back to the Future doesn’t quite hold up to scrutiny. 
See all Watch Smarter episodes and follow the series on Facebook.
Movies Video
Shon Arieh-Lerer is a writer, producer, and comedian.
Aaron Wolfe is a writer, filmmaker, and obsessive fan of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.

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