The Golden Mile

Josh: The Atlantic Ocean can suck it. I say this because I, in Florida, just watched a movie with Gabby, in London. We hit play on Edgar Wright's The World's End at the same time and chatted our way through it via Twitter. To give a little background, Gabby is in her twenties, not too far removed from high school age, whereas I am in my late 30s, not far from the age of present-day Gary King. As you can probably imagine, this makes this particular movie somewhat of a different beast for each of us.

Gabby, I've written and we've talked a bit about my relationship with this movie due to the way I often found myself clinging to the past. As someone who is a bit closer to high school and who wasn't terribly fond of her experiences at that age, what do you think of Gary King? Do you find yourself rooting for him or do you feel like he's pining for things that are better left behind?

Gabby: I think the film does a great job of setting Gary up. When you see him telling the story that kicks the film off to members of a group in a circle, I took that to mean that he was receiving some kind of therapy. That gave me an instant connection to him and I think it is something that really informs Simon Pegg's performance, which is a magnificent one as you can really get that sense of pain and vulnerability hidden beneath that indestructible exterior. I also believe that it is easy enough for people to say things are better left behind you, but that is incredibly hard in practice. Gary King has clung onto this idea of himself that has haunted him throughout his adult life, if he could have let go of that I'm sure he would have done. I know I would love to let go of my past, but I can't. You can't just snap your fingers and move on, and I think that is why he clings to the idea of going back so intensely. He has lived in the shadow of that vision of himself that he never lived up to. Now he wants to complete something that he believes will give him the chance to go back and relieve that sense of glory but also to top that figure of himself. That definitely gives him a depth and humanity, which is what I love in movie characters. It also makes him a character I can relate to.

How do you feel about Gary King and what is it about the nature in which Gary clings to the past makes this film so resonant for you?

Josh: I think you hit the proverbial nail on the proverbial head talking about the pain behind his exterior. When I first moved down to Florida I clung to everything from my life in New York, the clothes, the music, anything that would make me feel like I hadn't left. Going back to visit a decade after I left I still wore my old black duster and such, going about like nothing had changed. Gary frightens me because it's almost like seeing myself as I might have been if I hadn't finally let go of the past. Pegg's performance is truly stunning, sad and funny all at the same time. What could have been a caricature feels lived-in and honest, a tremendously difficult feat to pull off.

You mentioned while we were watching it that you identified most strongly with Peter. What was it about Peter that you identify with, and do you feel it affects your feelings about the movie as a whole considering his fate?

Gabby: I think it is easy to see yourself going down a road like Gary's and I can identify with that pain inside him like you can, just in a different way. I think I can identify with Andy as well. Here comes Gary with the exterior of an idolised past, but Andy has to live with the all the pain Gary has tried to cage himself off from. Andy has had some huge knocks. I think Nick Frost puts in a fantastic performance here that shows the damage that did to Andy. I had an incident with someone who had an idolised view of the same place that made me incredibly miserable, it is very hard to be on the other side of that when your experience was so negative. When I saw this at the cinema, I had a few really strong emotional reactions and one of them was to Peter's speech after Shane asks him permission to take the stool. Shane had made Peter's life hell at school, and Shane didn't even recognise his existence. As well as showing that Shane has had no regrets with his previous behaviour, it also gives him the power. Shane has the same power over Peter in that moment that he did over him at school. Emotionally that puts Peter right back in the position he was, feeling victimised but also like he isn't even worthy of existing in this persons eyes. That really was a strong emotional punch for me. I was bullied to such an extent it still affects me today and I can't imagine how bad I would feel if I came face to face with one of the people that bullied me and they looked at me in a certain way or even looked right through me. That would really set me back. Even though I can relate to Peter's pain, my affection for this movie goes far beyond that, I love pretty much every beat in it!

Besides Gary, are there any characters that you can identify with?  We also discussed a moment of Gary's speech that really gets to you emotionally, can you share a bit more about that moment?

Josh: I wouldn't say I identify with him, exactly, but I definitely understand much of what Andy went through, feeling abandoned by the person who meant the most to him, as well as realizing that everything he thought that person was was based almost entirely on what was on the surface.

As for the moment that makes me break down every time, it's when Gary's mask finally slips and he admits that he doesn't want to be sober, that seeing the Golden Mile through to the bitter end (or lager end) is all he's got. To realize he's spent literally 20 years chasing the way he felt that one single night is heartbreaking, and says so much about the power of nostalgia over our lives.

I don't want this to go on too long, but I think it speaks to the power of these characters that throughout this exchange, we haven't talked explicitly about the sci-fi elements of the film. You and I spoke a bit about English pub culture and I'm curious to get your take on the body-snatching element of the movie as it relates to "Starbucking" and the homogenization of pubs where you are.

Gabby: I agree, that is a very powerful moment of the film. Talking of pub culture, it is very hard to strip a pub of its personality. Usually because of the age of the building. Even if a chain come in and buy it it still has been in that town for God knows how long. The wood smells a certain way and there is usually pictures up of the pub in the 1800s or even further back. Some have little plaques and portraits of people that lived there and it is hard to strip a place of that kind of vibe. There is this chain called Wetherspoons and they still keep the atmosphere, like a pub near where I am that used to be an old cinema, it has a magic movie vibe I just love. However, I feel there is a problem in the way coffee shops are going, two Starbucks in one street, that kind of thing. There was one Starbucks that was in a shop with real personalty and charm, of course that was the one of the three in town that had to close. I think we have to celebrate personalty! Otherwise what are we then? A place without culture or individuality, which leads to an easy parallel between that and body snatching. Mind you I live in a place where all you have to do is take a train, get out, wonder a little and you'll stumble upon something with personality. Hopefully more and more people will celebrate that and be able to have access things like that.

Josh: I can't even picture what a Starbucks with personality would look like. Around here the houses, the shops, the movie theaters, everything is very cookie-cutter. If the neighbors on either side of me turned out to be robots full of blue stuff, it would not be as surprising as one might think.

I think it's time to wrap this up, but I appreciate you taking the time to watch and discuss it with me. I say we meet up in 20 years and try to recapture it all over again. Let's Boo-Boo.