"You can't play God son."

The Butterfly Effect is disturbing, thought provoking, and horrifically captivating. I find it ironic that hours before we watched this film for our literature class I was sitting in my Introduction to World Religions class talking about a very similar topic. Our teacher was telling us about an old saying that, "A butterfly flying in the Philippines has an effect on a butterfly flying the the Unites States." Although this concept made sense to me at the time while I was in class, I had not put two and two together about the film we were watching, its title, and the saying I had learned hours earlier until the film was sitting on a big screen right in front of me.

I had walked in on this film accidently when it was out in theaters and remember running out as soon as I saw the screen. My reaction since that day has not changed much over the years. There were numerous times last night that I felt physically ill (particularly the part where Tommy burnt the dog alive), wanting nothing more than to walk out of the room and never finish the film, but I did not do that. Partially I did not do this because it was required for our class, but also in some odd way I wanted to know how the film turned out.

I have always wondered throughout my life about the effects that each decision we make has on the course of not only our own lives, but also on the lives of others. Sometimes when I look back on my life and think about the main events that helped define the person I am and the person I will become, I wonder what might have happened if I had chosen the other option. I always think about what would have never happened if my parents would not have gotten a divorce. I would not have moved so many times, I would not know my stepdad or my stepmom, I would not have my stepsister or my half sisters (who are triplets and the loves of my life). What if things had turned out differently? None of that would have happened, I probably would not be at this school. I would not be as adaptable to different situations or changes in my life. I also would not be as good at packing in a hurry.

I have been going to a religiously affiliated school for my entire life and have been learning about God and faith for most of those years. I have always been taught to have faith in God and even though I would not affiliate myself with one particular religion I have always kept that with me throughout my life. I have always believed that everything happens for a reason. Even the small, insignificant details of our everyday lives matter in one way for another to effect our ultimate outcome. I think that is part of the reason why I could not walk out on the movie last night. I love the idea that by changing one detail, although most of those details in the movie were not small ones, Evan managed to completely alter the outcome of reality. I think if this movie teaches us anything it is exactly what we already know and what Evan's Dad, Jason, tells him when he comes to visit him, "You can't play God son...You can't change who people are without destroying who they were." Because in the end, things will always end up the way they were supposed to be and there is no one in the world that can change that.