Gary King's character arc in The World's End, and how he inspired me to be strong after my wife passed away.

It was the last movie we saw together, before she died. I can't pretend to be entirely over it; is this something a person ever completely gets over?

We loved movies. Especially Edgar Wright movies. Like the protagonist of many of Edgar Wright's movies, I hit a rut and sank into it after she died. I thought back to Gary King and The Golden Mile. Shaun and the Zeds. Scott Pilgrim and the Evil Exes. Flawed men who had grow up, get over yourself, you prick beaten into them, and then they got up and moved forward. So could I. It's not always easy, but it's life. Worth living for, and worth fighting for.

I made the decision two years ago to never give up, and I'm sticking with it. I'm not going to lay down and die, and I'm not going to wallow in the things I have lost and will never have again. Death will take me with my hands around his throat.

It might sound corny as all hell, but Gary showed me this. In his own way.

A charismatic man-child who longs for his glory days, masking his insecurities and regrets with alcohol, jokes and bravado. We all know a guy like this. Hell, maybe we are him in one way or another.

At what seems like his absolute rock bottom, he desperately fights his once true companion for the last scrap of his youth, that final pint. He finally breaks down, and cries, "It never got better than that night! That was supposed to be the beginning of my life! All that promise and fucking optimism! That feeling like we could take on the whole Universe! It was a big lie! Nothing happened!"

Gary feels that he truly has nothing left; he has fought like hell, literally and figuratively to recapture that one glorious night, clawing upward only to find the top of the mountain bare. With nothing left to lose, and the Network Overlord (The Big Lamp) calling for him, he shrugs, slips on his jacket and marches out from behind the bar to face it.

It seems like an offer tailor-made for him. To be young forever. To remember only the good times, forever. He looks his younger self in the eye.... ("I'm so cute.") then decides, "Nah." and twists his doppleganger's head off, punting it across the room and shouting, "There's only one Gary King!"

This is the moment when Gary doesn't just save the Human Race, but himself as well. He realizes that he is more than that shadow of his former self. More than one night in a lifetime. He stands up on that table and tells the 'benevolent' infiltrators of our planet to fuck off back to Legoland. Like a sore loser, The Network doesn't go quietly. It sends the Earth back to the Dark Ages on its way out.

Gary has never needed alcohol, or other drugs. All he's ever wanted and needed is to have a good time with his friends. In saving the world, he reclaims his sense of self-worth, lets go of his addictions and finally takes responsibility. The Blanks are left stranded in a world that will always hate and fear them, he can't change that; but he can protect them, guide them and fight with them until the end.

Even in a world of decay and darkness, Gary's happier, healthier. He no longer entertains childish ideas like needing alcohol to enjoy his life or feel like a true man; all he needs are his friends. When he leaps into the next good fight, he grins with the pride and contentment of a man who has finally found his way home, truly having a good time at last. He's won.

Submitted April 17, 2016 at 04:25AM by TheresOnly1GaryKing http://ift.tt/1MA6OzY