About Time: Mary and Tim.
“Lesson Number One: All the time traveling in the world can’t make someone love you.”- Tim, About Time.
「第一課:再怎麼時光倒轉，都不可能讓某人愛上你。」-提姆《真愛每一天》
In the film, About Time, 21-year-old Tim is told by his father that every man of their family is gifted with the ability to travel to any point in the past. As a timid, introverted lad, Tim desperately longs to have a girlfriend and decides immediately to use this power to get Charlotte, his first crush, to fall in love with him. When Tim tells Charlotte that he fancies her the day before her departure, she smilingly declines and claims that he should have told her earlier. To win her heart, Tim travels back to the very next day Charlotte arrives and pours out his heart to her; however, she refuses him by saying that it’d be really romantic if he could have done so right before her departure.
This is how Tim learns the most precious lesson ever: All the time traveling in the world can’t make someone love you.
While the concept that “all men are created equal” may be seen as simply a political statement, the belief in the equal intensity of love is absolutely a utopian fantasy. Since it’s often the case that you can’t make someone love you back with equal intensity however hard you try, those hopelessly stuck in one-sided romance still believe their endurance and devotion can eventually pay off.
Sad, isn’t it?
One adorable friend of mine spent almost ten years rising above her obsessive and unrequited love for a guy she had fallen in love with at college orientation because he turned out to be homosexual (how sad but thank God). Were it not for this revelation, I can’t imagine for how much longer she would persist in her efforts to win his heart.
A very wise man once said, “you have to love yourself before someone else can love you,”which may sound like a cliche but it’s self-evident. If you can’t make someone love you back however hard you try, “all you can do is love yourself and be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them.”
Erinis quotes 
Very good article, Eri. This is a very good way not only to encourage students learning English but also tell them how to look at things from a more mature perspective, especially those about love, by which the youngsters are often stuck and bothered at their age.
Thank you, Fulin. What I also found interesting was that the two main characters in the film use Bakerloo line every day entering and leaving different platforms at Maida Vale tube station, which I never heard of. I think I’ll go have a look next time I visit London.
I have been there once 3 years ago when I was going there to view a room for rent. It is the so-called “good zone”. I think you know the place but just had no chance to visit. Hope to see you in London soon!
I guess I once got very close to Maida Vale when I hung around in Paddington. Hope to visit there soon. Please bake me something yummy then 😛
Rachel McAdams is a perfect actress for this role. If I were a man, I would definately fall for her.
I like Rachel McAdam too:) She’s utterly feminine and charming~