The number
Live Historic Score
One number, from 0 to 100. It tells you whether to watch it. The picture of that number is the meter.
Try the number
Move the eight
Each measure is 0 to 10. The arc is their average, times ten. The picture is only a face for the meter.
85Living historically. Sit with it.
80–100
Sit with it.
65–79
Worth an evening.
45–64
Watch it awake.
0–44
Leave it.
A minute and forty-three seconds. The Live Historic Score, the eight values, and how a family uses them.
What it measures
Whether this is worth your family's time. Not nostalgia. A story can be old or new. The questions are the same.
01
Industry
Does anyone here do a real job, and does that job matter?
By the end someone is more useful than they were, and the work is treated as worthy of them.
02
Household
Is a marriage, a parent, or a child a real life here, or just a prop?
Marriage, parents, and children are a life the story takes seriously.
03
Piety
Can conscience actually stop someone, or is reverence only in the shot so it can be mocked?
A soul is allowed to be real, and a person can be bound by it.
04
Courage
Does anyone risk something they would miss, or is it only noise?
Someone pays a real price, for a reason that is not only himself.
05
Republic
Does anyone owe a neighbor, a law, or a town — or is every person out for themselves?
A person belongs to other people, and duty is not the punchline.
06
Temperance
Is appetite shown and then put down, or are you being trained to want the next one?
Excess may appear. It is not the teacher.
07
Truth
Does a promise still hold, and does a lie come with a bill?
A promise costs something, and deceit is not the costume the story loves best.
08
Stewardship
What is left for the people who come after — a place, a craft, a name?
Someone keeps a thing they will not live long enough to finish enjoying.
How it works
Each of the eight is scored from 0 to 10. Add them, divide by eight, and multiply by ten. That is the Live Historic Score. A title we have already scored keeps its number. A new one is scored when you ask.
80–100
Living historically
Sit with it.
65–79
Worth an evening
Then talk about it.
45–64
Watch it awake
Or leave it.
0–44
Leave it
It will not make you better.
The slider on the desk is the same scale. Set a low end and a high end, and the shelf shows only what falls inside.
Why it matters
An evening is short. A private opinion does not raise a household. The Living Meter is the one number a house can share before the story starts: keep it, or leave it.
- Name a film or a show. The search returns the Living Meter, not a pile of reviews.
- Annie will read the high scores and say which ones are worth watching.
- The number travels with the title when you share it.