You know, with the holiday season soon to be upon us, I sort of want three ghosts to visit our dear friend Lou....
One could show him how he ended up where he is and all the opportunities he had to make better choices.
The second could show him people who are far worse off than he is, but make the best of their lot in life. It would also show him what others think of him (like the Nephew's party in "A Christmas Carol"), but let's face it...we are the Nephew's party. Perhaps this second specter could introduce him to two waif-ish children named Ignorance & Want, who spell the downfall of Lou & all who deny their existence.
The final spirit could show Lou how he'll be remember when he dies : not fondly, but has some to be laughed at, not even pitied. Anything of value will be sold, no one will mourn is passing. His only legacy will be a neglected gravestone. Perhaps then, Lou will fall to his knees in front of the grave, proclaiming "Spirit, hear me! I am not the man I was, I will not be the man I must have been! Why show me these things if I am beyond all hope? Pity me, good Spirit, pity me! Help me to change these things by an altered life!"
But who am I kidding? The Spirits would show up and Lou would scream at them about being TERFS and racists and Kiwi Farmers....
I will take my rainbows now, please.
(I had no idea who the cast as Jacob Marley, because I don't believe he has any close acquaintances (much less a friend), who would give enough of a fuck about him to come back from the dead to warn him of his fate.)