Meaningless Rants

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I was reminded about this movie when my cousin told me that he was watching it again. It’s a 1997 movie starring Jodie Foster about contact with extra-terrestrial beings, and let me just review it again here: it simply is the best movie and the best story about alien encounter there is.

I think about other alien movies that I know of: Alien, Predator, MIB, X-Files, Independence Day, E.T. Then I figure out that they are not to be compared to Contact. It’s a totally separate level between those movies and Contact. Well, Alien and Predator and Independence Day are simply about kill or be killed. Well, I’m not saying that I don’t like Independence Day, but it’s not to be compared with Contact. Then there’s the comedy - MIB. Then there’s the feel-good Disney-esque E.T. I guess the closest one would be X-Files, but that is also woefully short from Contact.

Unfortunately, my sense of Contact’s awesomeness is probably not shared by most people. My father didn’t like it: he thinks it’s boring, what with all the talking and no alien heads exploding. My wife didn’t have any lasting impression. She does remember seeing the movie, but she only remembers some snippets. So why do I think Contact is such a great movie, so great that I say it’s the best Alien movie there is? Well, let me tell you why in a humongous Spoiler below - highlight to read.

It simply is the most thought provoking movie about Alien contact. It’s not mindless entertainment - it probably is the most realistic portrayal of the possibility of an encounter with an extra-terrestrial being. But then, most of the movie is not about the encounter itself: 80% is talking about the implication and the planning for such an encounter. Consider how the movie portrays the usage of Hitler’s Olympic TV broadcast to send messages back - being the first widely broadcasted signal - and the implication to neo-nazism. I also like what is sorely missing from any alien-contact movies: the question on religious implications of such encounter. The movie portrays the religious conflicts, the extremism, the resistance of the idea of a different intelligent species in the cosmos. Furthermore, the protagonist, played by Jodie Foster, is actually questioned about her beliefs when the committee wants to decide on who to initiate the encounter, and that becomes detrimental because the committee doesn’t want to send someone who “thinks that 95% of the population is delusional.”

I especially liked the climax. I truly think that the point the protagonist’s speechless awe in witnessing the birth of a galaxy, and she said that “it’s beautiful… no words… they should have sent a poet” is one of the most touching line in the whole movie. And then the encounter with the alien itself - with so few words traded, but each are so meaningful. But then, the movie doesn’t end in a Disney-Movie happy ending of a hero’s parade after that. Given a lack of evidence, the protagonist has to confront the Congress who questions her testimony of her journey. And in a very ironic moment, the committee asks her: “so you are telling us to take your words… by faith?” A reversal of her position.

When I first watched it, I had no idea who wrote such a great story. Luckily, now we have Wikipedia and Youtube. I can now see the article about the movie Contact and actually watched again the awesome intro and climax. But then I learnt something from the Wikipedia page: Contact was based from a novel of the same name by Carl Sagan.

Carl Sagan, I’ve heard that name before. I’ve heard in several times in some forums. But I never knew who he was. So, thanks to Wikipedia, again, I checked on his page to find out who he was.

Turns out that he’s a great accomplished scientists. But that’s not why he’s popular. He’s popular because he explains cosmic science in the simplest terms that is accessible to layman’s term. He gives a fresh perspective to the big metaphysical questions that is based on science. And moreover, his quotations are quite lyrical.

“We are star-stuffs harvesting star-light.” - Carl Sagan

Thanks to the wonder of Youtube, even though I missed his TV production for PBS Cosmos, I could watch snippets of them from the internet. I like it when he tried to explain cosmic science. But most of all, I especially love his ponderings, like the “pale blue dot.”

“Think of the rivers of blood spilt by generals and emperors so that they may, in their triumph and glory, become temporary masters, of a fraction, of a dot.” - Carl Sagan

This 3 and a half minute clip should be a must see for all human beings. Every school children must see his Cosmos series. Perhaps then we can get rid of superstitions and actually immerse ourselves in science. It’s my duty to get the full collection and to show it to my kids when they’re around 10 years old.

However, I doubt that this clip could excite 1 out of 100 people. I mean, who cares about the cosmos? I can imagine most people’s reaction in watching this: “So what?” “Apaan sih Yen?” “Speaking of which, have you checked out that new Nokia?” *Sigh* I’m such an irreparable geeky dork.