Contact ( film )

According to Roger Ebert, this is one of his favorite films.

But I never heard of it.  It was based upon Carl Sagan's book to some extent.  Although I did hear of Sagan's book, I never read it.  When it comes to extraterrestrials, I'm really not that interested.  For some people though, it seems almost a religious experience.  At work, many years ago, about the time of this movie, some guy seemed incredulous that I didn't believe in extraterrestrials.  I was struck by the depth of belief in that stuff.

It so happens that one of the main themes of the film is the various strains of skepticism.  For example, there is a skepticism for religious belief, as if there was a conflict between the two.  I can relate to that on both sides of the alleged conflict, as a matter of fact.  There were times that I considered myself an atheist.  There were times when I considered myself to be religious.  But never did I believe in extraterrestrials.  It may be time to reconsider that point of view, given that there may be many worlds out there like the Earth.  Yet, it doesn't interest me.  Although technology does, and always has.  The film covered the skepticism about technology, too.

Another theme is the challenge to skepticism.  Everybody's skepticism gets challenged in this movie.  For example, Jodie Foster's character was skeptical about a belief in God.  By the end of the movie, she had a challenge made to her that was confirmed by her experience.  Her boyfriend asked her if she loved her deceased father.  She said yes, of course.  Then he asked if she could prove it.  To which she had no answer.  By the end of the film, she had an experience that she could not prove to be true to a skeptical world, which confirmed her boyfriend's challenge made to her previously about her father.  Her boyfriend's point was that you can't necessarily prove the truth of something even though you believe it to be true in your own heart.  Jodie Foster's character was a very rational person.  This had to be a revelation for that character.

It is interesting to note that the film was mildly successful.  But not terribly successful, either.  About average, I suppose.  There's no bad guy to hate.  No good guy to root for.  Well liked films tend to have a villain and a hero.  There's no hero here, unless you count Foster's character.  She risks her life in order to find out the truth.  Although there's some not so good guys in the movie, they aren't evil enough to be villains.  Because of that, the movie may lack sufficient drama.  Perhaps that explains why it wasn't more successful at the box office.

An interesting comparison can be made with First Contact, the Star Trek film.  That film did indeed have villains and it is considered more fresh according to Rotten Tomatoes.  It's gotta be about the villains and heroes.  Gotta have the drama.