A Story Worth Honoring

Pompeii: Out of Time

Once upon a time, there was a boy who wanted to become an actor. Unfortunately, this was wildly inconvenient for his father, Odin. And so, instead, quietly, he became a lovable villain, a prince of torment and passion.

But I digress. Long ago, before turning delightfully wicked, the boy studied Latin and fell in love with ancient stories. In a moment of youthful freedom, he found himself facing a landmark, or rather a sacred memorial filled with history, a place where homes and businesses had once stood but were now destroyed by an angry mountain.

It was as if the very walls of the homes wept with the tragedy, and in the boy’s heart, he knew he would never be the same.

Let’s talk Pompeii. Or rather, let’s re-imagine Pompeii with Loki, I mean Tom Hiddleston, as our tour guide, as his love for the classics arrives in the new series, Pompeii: Out of Time.

With the mischief of his Marvel character, Hiddleston offers a re-imagined story of life on the day of the eruption. What could their last day have held? What did it take for them to realize that escape was the only option? Where did they go? And what about the ones who didn’t run? What about Herculaneum?

As Hiddleston asks questions, finds experts to help, and expresses the pressure of being out of time to live, we flow between the past and the present as if it’s a dream or a reflection Hiddleston is showing us, asking us to count down with him. How much longer can we breathe ash-free air? How do we make our bodies to respond to an alarm bell screaming in the background? What does it take to run from burning skies?

Pompeii: Out of Time invites viewers to be curious, to learn, to chuckle, to hold tension, to grieve and to grow as we watch a story of survival. A story worth knowing.

And what to do after it is over? Weep a little longer as the television flicks off, and then go, respect the dead by finding ways to vibrantly live.