November 15, 2004
Bleep - Still Seeing Red
What did I think about the film "What the Bleep Do We Know?"
I know what you're expecting from The Princess of the New Age , but I'm sorry to report that I was disappointed . That is not to say that I did not admire the effort. It was a valliant attempt to explain quantum physics using visual imagery. Along with the talking heads, (entirely too reminiscent of PBS specials), some of whom I would not have chosen, the illustrative "plot" was flabby . Marlee Matlin played Amanda, a slightly less angry deaf person than she was in "Children of a Lesser God". In "Bleep" she is pissed about her ex, and her thighs . Negative thoughts made her life miserable, in addition to her perennially perky, mess making roommate. Amanda's anger was tamped, but not extinguished, by her constant pill popping . After exposure to the mysteries of the universe, she was able to toss her benzodiazepines in the trash, quite literally. An epic scene. The denoument.
About those heads --Ramtha's in particular. . Salon has an investigative piece that is well worth sitting through the commercial to read in it's entirety - an excerpt:
".......That has meant little attention has been given to either the film's agenda, or its questionable use of supposed experts. At least one scientist prominently interviewed in the film now says his words were taken out of context. And two other key subjects in the film are not fully identified: a theologian who, the film fails to divulge, is a former priest who left the Catholic Church after allegations of sexual abuse; and a mysterious woman identified only as Judy "JZ" Knight, who is actually a sect leader claiming to channel a 35,000-year-old warrior spirit named Ramtha. The film's three co-directors are among those who follow Ramtha and look to Knight's channeled maxims to decipher the mysteries of life. These Ramtha followers reportedly number in the thousands. But critics call the sect a cult."
More
"In the movie, the 58-year-old Knight, whose accent is as thick as her mascara, [a Tammy Fay Baker look alike] makes the boldest statements -- pronounced with long, rolling R's -- about particles and God. "We have grrreat technology. But we still have this ugly, superrrstitious, backwahds cohncept of Gahd," she says, adding that "the height of arrrrrrogance is the belief of those who would see Gahd in their own image." Musing on the unity of consciousness and matter, she reminds us that "it only takes a fantasy for a man to have a harrrd-on." In her normal mode, Knight speaks the plain talk of her native Roswell, N.M., but in the manly presence of Ramtha, said to have conquered the continent neighboring Atlantis, Knight's jaw juts and her voice deepens into something magisterial and brash . Her Ramtha's School of Enlightenment, on a $2 million compound based in Yelm, Wash., boasts followers -- including celebrities like actress Shirley MacLaine (who attended Knight's seminars in the late '80s) and "Dynasty" star Linda Evans -- willing to pay up to $1,600 for a seminar. "
It's the $1600 seminars, the palatial compound, and the nondisclosure of Ramtha affiliation that bother me, especially since I am sure that no continuing education credits are offered. Boopsie of Doonesbury used to channel Hunk-Ra, perhaps Gary was trying to tell us something.
How can I doubt Ramtha when I am such a big fan of Esther Hicks, channeling Abraham ? For one thing, Abraham, ostensibly, is just a handy name for a clump of nonphysical beings. We're not getting just one spirit's opinion here,(and warrior's at that) --kind of like buying an index fund rather than an individual stock .
I do find that when I am not embroiled in election hatred , and my thoughts are pure and gay , the loveliness of life presents itself on a more consistant basis. Abraham's perspective helps me to appreciate difference, build optimism, and reframe things I might otherwise find negative. I am not expected to believe anything, join anything, or worship anything - just value the uniqueness of myself, and my own connection to all there is, which seems to work most of the time.
The big debate in my film going party, was not whether the observer has an effect on the observed, but whether the observer actually creates reality through thought. I believe this happens, and that it doesn't necessarily have to involve quantum physics and multiple realities.
Take this war, for example, as far as I'm concerned, it has been manufactured by thought. Saddam was undoubtedly a tyrant, but he wasn't bothering us. Some folks floated the thought that he was our "enemy", and for some reason it proved popular. In our efforts to save ourselves from our thoughts about Saddam, (and perhaps with his oil wells in mind) we have, in fact, created huge numbers of "insurgents" who are now definitely ACTING like our enemies. It is hard to maintain positive feelings when someone has trashed your country and killed 100,000 of your fellow countrymen. Moving right along, we are busy developing the thought that ALL Muslims are our enemies. Let's see what that constructive thought manifests.
A more positive example of plain old thought manifesting change comes from the work of Insoo Kim Berg and Steve de Shazer, practitioners of Solution Oriented Brief Family Therapy. They have a technique, which they call the "The Miracle Question" . They ask a person with a problem to imagine that a miracle has occured overnight, while they were sleeping, and, upon awakening, their problem is solved. The question is how would they know that the miracle has taken place when they get up in the morning, what would they look for and how would they behave differently as a result. Thought changed, behaviorial change ensues. Seems to work.
Perhaps we could do as well without the other worldly froufrous here and just reread Norman Vincent Peale . OOOOOh I just did, (this clickie was meant to be distainful, I think, but he sounds like my kind of guy). And guess what? The man was into psychology and channelling.
Photo note: Still seeing red, this time red lanterns the Chinese way of manifesting prosperity and happy thoughts. Available at the Manhattan Flea for anyone who needs material equipment.
Posted by Dakota at November 15, 2004 05:26 PM