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Daylight Savings Time 2016: How ‘The Princess Bride’ Meme Connects To The Movie

By Jonathan Franks
Published on: 10:49 PST, Mar 13, 2016

A viral meme from The Princess Bride made waves this weekend, thanks to the Daylight Savings Time 2016.

The meme featured an infamous character from the popular 1987 movie, Count Tyrone Rugen.

The caption of the online photo is actually a modified version of a memorable line from The Princess Bride that was stated by Count Rugen (played by actor Christopher Guest) in the film.

“We’ve just sucked one hour of your life away. Tell me…How do you feel?”

daylight savings time
(Photo Credit: Reddit)

What is the meaning of the photo? How does The Princess Bride connect so well to the concept of Daylight Savings Time in the first place?

As most fans and critics of The Princess Bride know, the original line of dialogue from the movie stated “I” instead of “we” when it came to who was responsible for the “life-sucking” moment.

During this pivotal scene in the movie, Wesley (aka “The Man in Black” and “The Dread Pirate Roberts”) was captured and knocked unconscious by Count Tyrone Rugen.

Wesley’s love interest, Buttercup (played by actress Robin Wright), believed her future husband Prince Humperdinck (played by actor Chris Sarandon) has returned Wesley safely to his ship to sail away without being harmed.

However, what Buttercup did not know was that Humperdinck lied to her. Moments after he made that “promise” to his fiancee, he ordered Count Rugen to take Wesley to the Pit of Despair for torture and inevitable death.

Since he arrived injured, Rugen allowed his assistant torturer known as The Albino (played by actor Mel Smith) to nurture and heal Wesley’s wounds. At first glance, it may have seemed that The Albino was helping Wesley by taking it easy on him instead of finishing the job and taking him out. However, as The Princess Bride fans know, that was not the case at all.

The Albino explained the real reason for helping and healing Wesley during their first and last conversation in the film.

“The Prince and the Count always insist on everyone being healthy before they’re broken.”

Wesley responded by boasting about being able to survive torture, but The Albino made it clear that he was sadly mistaken.

“You survived the Fire Swamp. You must be very brave… but nobody withstands The Machine.”

The Machine was a large device invented and designed by Count Rugen (the man featured in the Daylight Savings Time meme). Since he wanted to work out the kinks in his invention, the Count approached torturing Wesley more like a painful science experiment – painful for Wesley, scientific for the Count.

Before activating the machine and torturing Wesley, the Count took time to explain everything in detail and requested feedback from Wesley afterwards – an arguably torturous experience in its own sadistic way. That is the moment of The Princess Bride in which the popular line used on the Daylight Savings Time meme is expressed.

“As you know, the concept of the suction pump is centuries old. Well, really, that’s all this is. Except that instead of sucking water, I’m sucking life. I’ve just sucked one year of your life away. I might one day go as high as five, but I really don’t know what that would do to you. So, let’s just start with what we have. What did this do to you? Tell me. And remember, this is for posterity purposes, so be honest. How do you feel?”

The connection between The Princess Bride and Daylight Savings Time should be apparently clear as long as you understand Count Rugen and what he did to Wesley with The Machine.

As part of Daylight Savings Time in March, clocks are set in reverse by one hour. Therefore, it is as if the hour is being “sucked” away from a person’s life – making this meme from The Princess Bride a great match that makes perfect sense.

[Image Credit: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images]

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