Movies and Consciousness
By Dennis Kwiatkowski
The 2016 Oscars (Academy Awards) show which was telecast the other night provided further confirmation that the Divine works in mysterious ways – that there are no accidents and that art mirrors life. Each one of the eight films nominated for Best Picture: Brooklyn, Room, The Martian, The Big Short, Bridge of Spies, Spotlight, Mad Max: Fury Road, and The Revenant were there for a reason. They represent art’s capacity to help expand consciousness.
Room was about a woman and her young son held prisoners in a room for seven years, and the boxes we place ourselves in throughout our lives which confine us. The Martian concerned an astronaut from Earth left behind on the planet Mars without food or supplies – his survival guided only by his intuitive intelligence and his soul’s promptings. The Revenant was about survival in harsh conditions amid the mighty forces of nature. Spotlight dealt with the consequences of sweeping a scandal under the rug. The Big Short was about exploiting the vulnerable for profit. Bridge of Spies highlighted the rights and responsibilities we owe each other and showed that life is not clearly black or white. Mad Max: Fury Road introduced the feminine principle in an action picture. Brooklyn dealt with an immigrant girl facing her fears in new surroundings – simultaneously dealing with new opportunities and choices.
The interesting thing is that every one of these films has two themes in common: 1) overcoming limitations and, 2) seeing through illusions. Thus they mirror what has been happening in our world over the past several decades as cosmic influences prompt the human species to evolve. In addition, many people are finding that films which they had not been inclined to see (because they thought they might be uninteresting or unpleasant due to subject matter) such as Room, Spotlight, Bridge of Spies, The Big Short, Brooklyn or others have had the very opposite effect. Audiences find these films insightful, profoundly moving and well worth viewing. People are becoming more and more willing to face the issues that are going on beneath the surface even when it is potentially unpleasant in order to resolve and integrate the issues involved.
Since art is inspired from within, it often works on several levels. For example, in Room, a young boy finds his world vastly expanded and he comments on his experience. The viewer cannot help but also have his or her own consciousness and experience of life expanded by what is related in the film. Similarly, Brooklyn is not just about a woman’s personal journey, but the journey of the soul itself as it incarnates in human form, with all the choices and opportunities for growth that are provided. These films, along with The Martian, Bridge of Spies and others also bring in the element of compassion and love and the connectedness of all people. This too serves to elevate consciousness.
A good way to watch a film is to ask the questions: What is this film saying? What is the director trying to get across? What does this film offer me in insight? (The same basic thrust of these questions can also be powerfully applied at any time to our own experiences in life.) It is more important to ask the questions than to be concerned about when the answer will come, for the process involved is mystical and it will come from within at the right time. But the result, in regards to both a film or to a life experience, will be a welcome surprise that brings insight.
Another significant aspect of the Academy Awards telecast was the brouhaha over whether or not the Motion Picture Academy (which awards the Oscars) is racist. Whether this charge as regards the Academy is real or fabricated, it reflects the fact that the issues in our greater society that are erupting or coming to the surface right now are happening because society is moving forward.
During the telecast, there was no hidden elephant in the room. Most of the current social issues with which society is dealing right now were on full display to an audience of billions of people. In the past five decades or so, they might have been covered over. The fact that they were on display the other night is a healthy and extraordinary thing.
The new age we are entering is one of knowledge, information, wholeness, love, brotherhood, unity, integrity, consciousness, empowerment, inclusion, fairness, equality, sharing—the list goes on. [Meditation Focus] May we see humanity’s progress continue to manifest in the form of harmony, oneness, integrity and love.
