Hereafter movie discussion (spoilers!)
Hi!
I'm writing today about the movie Hereafter. I don't usually write about movies, but I feel it's important to write about this one. If you have yet to see it, you may wish to see the film first, as this article contains spoilers. You have been warned.
As an atheist and skeptic, the subject of this film is important to me. Some who don't believe in the same way that I don't may find this film disturbing. It shows a world that is almost exactly like ours, except that real psychics exist.
Matt Damon plays one such psychic, George, as a very quiet and kind individual. His ability is to communicate with the dead. He's had a business as a psychic, but these days are behind him. "A life about death is hardly a life at all."
The plot also involves a journalist who has a near death experience (Marie), and a young boy whose brother dies suddenly (Marcus).
During the first third of the film, we are only presented with paranormal experiences that are genuine. George does a psychic reading for someone (against his will), and Marie has a near death experience. But George's reading is very different from any you will see in real life. He asks yes/no questions, almost never receives a no, and gets very little information from the person he is reading. This is important because psychics often use a technique called "cold reading." It is very clear that the writers are showing that George is a real psychic by differentiating his performance from how "psychics" operate in the real world.
Marie visits someone who studies near-death experiences, and give her a rather lame argument for why she thinks an afterlife exists. Paraphrased: "After seeing so many people on the brink of death all over the world report the same experiences, I decided it must mean they weren't hallucinating." They're all people, and if there is something in our physiology that leads to these experiences, I would expect them to be similar.
I was concerned at this point that viewers would have to do their own research or have previous knowledge of the subject matter to understand how the film is operating at this point. But to my relief, Marcus seeks help from fake psychics, and their tactics were shown clearly. One medium he seeks starts by telling the audience that she's getting a "J". Marcus's dead brother's name is Jason, so he pipes up. She rattles off several common J names that are incorrect. He corrects her that it is Jason. The medium then asks if this person was close to him. He says yes. The medium suggests it's his father, and by now Marcus is disillusioned and stops giving her information. She gives him some useless platitude supposedly from his father and he goes away unhappy.
He tries several others who use various different techniques, but it is clear the Marcus that they are all charlatans. At this point, it's fairly easy to see that "psychics" in the real world are fakes, and that what is presented in the film is fiction.
We see George do a few more readings, and his deadpan style and lack of need for information from the target further show how we should expect a real psychic to operate. He's able to quickly, easily and, most importantly, correctly produce information about his targets.
Overall, the film is very enjoyable as the characters are interesting, the plot weaves together people from different continents very convincingly, and it has a quiet and deliberate pace to it. Clint Eastwood has become such an accomplished filmmaker that I find it sad there isn't really something after death. But we do what we can with what time we have, and that's enough.
I'm writing today about the movie Hereafter. I don't usually write about movies, but I feel it's important to write about this one. If you have yet to see it, you may wish to see the film first, as this article contains spoilers. You have been warned.
As an atheist and skeptic, the subject of this film is important to me. Some who don't believe in the same way that I don't may find this film disturbing. It shows a world that is almost exactly like ours, except that real psychics exist.
Matt Damon plays one such psychic, George, as a very quiet and kind individual. His ability is to communicate with the dead. He's had a business as a psychic, but these days are behind him. "A life about death is hardly a life at all."
The plot also involves a journalist who has a near death experience (Marie), and a young boy whose brother dies suddenly (Marcus).
During the first third of the film, we are only presented with paranormal experiences that are genuine. George does a psychic reading for someone (against his will), and Marie has a near death experience. But George's reading is very different from any you will see in real life. He asks yes/no questions, almost never receives a no, and gets very little information from the person he is reading. This is important because psychics often use a technique called "cold reading." It is very clear that the writers are showing that George is a real psychic by differentiating his performance from how "psychics" operate in the real world.
Marie visits someone who studies near-death experiences, and give her a rather lame argument for why she thinks an afterlife exists. Paraphrased: "After seeing so many people on the brink of death all over the world report the same experiences, I decided it must mean they weren't hallucinating." They're all people, and if there is something in our physiology that leads to these experiences, I would expect them to be similar.
I was concerned at this point that viewers would have to do their own research or have previous knowledge of the subject matter to understand how the film is operating at this point. But to my relief, Marcus seeks help from fake psychics, and their tactics were shown clearly. One medium he seeks starts by telling the audience that she's getting a "J". Marcus's dead brother's name is Jason, so he pipes up. She rattles off several common J names that are incorrect. He corrects her that it is Jason. The medium then asks if this person was close to him. He says yes. The medium suggests it's his father, and by now Marcus is disillusioned and stops giving her information. She gives him some useless platitude supposedly from his father and he goes away unhappy.
He tries several others who use various different techniques, but it is clear the Marcus that they are all charlatans. At this point, it's fairly easy to see that "psychics" in the real world are fakes, and that what is presented in the film is fiction.
We see George do a few more readings, and his deadpan style and lack of need for information from the target further show how we should expect a real psychic to operate. He's able to quickly, easily and, most importantly, correctly produce information about his targets.
Overall, the film is very enjoyable as the characters are interesting, the plot weaves together people from different continents very convincingly, and it has a quiet and deliberate pace to it. Clint Eastwood has become such an accomplished filmmaker that I find it sad there isn't really something after death. But we do what we can with what time we have, and that's enough.
posted by Almo at 2:28 PM
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