Time is money friend! - an 'In Time' analysis

Time is money is a common phrase used all the time to indicate the value of time, so that it is not wasted; seeing as we human only have a set amount of time to spend in this life. 

Being a 'World of Warcraft' player for almost a decade, the phrase for me have been highly associated with the greedy, green Goblins and their ways of life. The quote have become such a stable for the Goblins, that when Blizzard implemented Goblins as a playable race on the Horde faction, their race-specific mount, 'The Goblin Trike' had a license plate picturing "time is money" with a watch = $. Ironically, to spend time in the game (game-time) you will have to buy time in real life. Both in the sense of the Goblins and the game itself, it is clear that time, in a sense, is money.

The Goblin Trike mount from World of Warcraft

But what if it  actually was the case, that time time in fact WAS money: the only currency society would work with, the only true value in life - and what would then happen when that currency hit zero? This theme is the main plot device in Andrew Niccol's ('The Truman Show') sci-fi action-thriller from 2011 In Time, which I saw last week for the first time. I ment to write this post sooner, but I  (somewhat ironically) didn't have the time, seing as I was in Copenhagen visiting family and so on - expect a few time-based puns in this post. But I digress!


The story of the movie is set in the distant futre of 2169, where people are genetically engineered with a digital clock on their forearm, which is set to activate once a person reaches the age of 25. This is when the person stop ages and the clock starts counting down from one year. If a person's watch reaches zero, they "time out" and instantly dies. Time is used as the universal currency in this future, and can be transfered from one person to another or by specially designed capsules. The country, in which the movie is set (most likely America, as I recall seing a monitoring map of a country looking like America in the movie) is divided into different "time zones" based of the wealth of the population. At the border of each zone there is also a check point, at which you must pay and ever exceeding "time fee" for each time zone you cross - meaning that there is no chance for people in the poor time zones to ever reach the rich zones. The movie focuses on only two specific time zones: Dayton, a poor manufacturing area where people live day-to-day, and New Greenwich, the whealthiest time zone. 
Our main character William "Will" Sallas, played by Justin Timerlake (oh I see what you did there: Justin Timberlake = Just IN TIM(b)Erlake ... or maybe that is just me trying ti find a meaning behind every choice in a movie) is a Dayton worker who lives with his mother Rachel. Right from the get go it is very confusing when he is talking to his mother who like everybody else in this world, have stopped agin past their 25-year old state and referring to her as "mom"... this part of the movie is the biggest hindering of suspension of disbelief. One day at the local bar, Will saves the drunken and suicidal Hentry Hamilton from the local gang called "Minute Men". The 105 year old Hamilton reveals to Will that the truth about "time wealth" is that there is plenty of time for everyone to live a long life. The people of New Greenwich hoard most of the time for themselves in order to live forever, while constantly increasing the cost of living in poorer districts to keep people dying. While Will sleeps, Hammilton gives him 116 years of time, leaving himself with only 5 minutes left to live. Will awakens to a message on the window from Hamilton which states: "Don't waste my time" 
The next defining moment for the furthering of the movie's plot, is when Will's mother, Rachel, uses all but 90 minutes of her time to make a loan payment, which coincidentally happens to coincide with another raise of taxes. This results in Rachel not having enough money to ride the busride home, a ride that would take two hours to walk. She runs against the clock, and a worried Will runs to meet up with her, having waited for her at the bus station, wondering why she wasn't with the bus. They finally catch up to one another, but time was not on their side, and Rachel falls over dead as soon as Will catches her. After this tremendous loss, Will loses all faith in the existing system, and chooses to set the world right with the 116 years he got from Hammilton and sets for New Greenwich. 
It is here that Will meets Sylvia Weis, played by Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia), daughter of time-loaning businessman Philippe Weis, who at first glance gives the viewer connotations of the classic Femme fatale figure of the film noir genre, with her elegant, yet (kinda) revealing dress, high heels, lucious make-up and raw sexual radiance. 

Amanda Seyfried in her role as Sylvia Weis

With all clichés still left to be tapped, her and Will end of falling for one another, but not before Will abducts her, and shows her how people outside New Greenwich are suffering. Together they then start trying to set things right in the world, but not without the time-keepers (The time police, or rather FBI so to speak) hot on their tail. 

This movie manages to handle some good intertextuality, which only furthers the enjoyment of the movie. First and foremost, Will's quest to turn things right, to redistribute the time-wealth of the world has very strong similarities to that of Robin Hood. 
In the same spirit as the outlaw Robin Hood, Will and Sylvias quest for justice can also be set in line with that of Bonnie and Clyde, only with reverse sense of moral. This is especially true in the car chases and the constantly shift in point of view from the criminals (in our story the heroes) and the law enforcements. 

Finally, and this is not as much a intertextuality as it is a case of "sense of feel" - but this movie and it's premise feels alot like a video game. The biggest factor to this, is the "time-runout = death. It is a very common game mechanic that has been used ever since the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System). This sort of elements in modern movies are called 'Gamification', as it takes elements of what makes a videogame, and use it as a story device (similar to that of Inception, which can be viewed the same as a video game, where you progress through levels and advance deeper down in the castle/tower). 
In the case of In Time the constant awearness of your time before your demise is in the strongest sense a game mechanic, that has been perfectly blended into the movie's plot. 

The final verdict of the movie: watch it or give it a look. It has some interesting concepts, and good acting (surprisingly good performance from Timberlake) and manages to stick to the premise to the end. 


Sorry for the lack of content on the blog...one might say that I was "out of time" - haha. But here it is, just IN TIME for a weekend read. You will not wait as long for the next blog post, I promise. 


Popcorntroller out!