Contact
Contact is a great movie starring Jodie Foster as Eleanor Arroway.
I am such a fan of the movie I created a website for “Contact groupies.” My site was really rockin’ in the search for “Contact, the Movie” until all of a sudden my site disappeared! A friend who is a google penalty expert took a look at the “forensics” and solemnly announced: “Your site is not search compliant. Most likely it has triggered one of the dreaded google penalties.” What??? UPDATE: My google penalty was unwound and I am ranking again. It seems that the problem had to do with “bad” links that needed to be removed. Anyway, back to my discussion of the movie Contact.
It follows a researcher looking into the heavens for signs of life. She has always been interested in the stars since her father first introduced her during youth. Since then she has earned an education and has followed her dream. She becomes one of the leading authorities on the topic of extra terrestrial life. During her journey she meets many people, including an ex alcoholic who explains to Eleanor how he beat his addiction thanks to following a drug therapy for alcoholics. He mentions a medication called Baclofen which I decided to look up to see if it were real. Turns out that doctors in Europe prescribe baclofen as the primary treatment for alcohol abuse. The site that I found online called LifeBac explains that clinical trials in Europe have shown 65% success allowing treatment-resistant alcoholics to return to low-risk drinking levels or abstinence when using the Ameisen method of titrated (not fixed) dosage. Amazingly these studies also showed that 92% of patients had a noticeable reduction in cravings. Approximately 50% of those who were successful on baclofen decided themselves to quit entirely. Although the appearance of this ex alcoholic was brief, he was quite memorable.
Eventually mathematical instructions are located which seem to be instructions to build what seem to be a transport object. When we, as humans, finally receive a sign from an alien intelligence that they exist & would like us to travel to see them much debate arises. Some believe the machine may be a weapon designed to destroy us or an invasion portal. Eventually we decide to construct the device & we need to find a pilot.
Eleanor is in the front running to be the person assigned the task, but many things are called into view during the decision making process. There are many biases that work against her attempt to become the first person to meet another intelligent species. First she is a woman and though we have come far in the movement for equality there are hurdles created by sexist individuals. Next she is a pure scientist who puts her faith in facts not god. She believes what she can see and touch. Many people feel that a better choice to represent the planet may be a religious person. As you can imagine there were some political underscores. In the end she does end up winning the right to travel through the device.
The enormous cost to build this machine is covered by the cooperation of several of the planets most wealthy countries in conjunction. Once construction is completed & the mission is planned we see our pilot prepare to load onto the craft for launch but she is interrupted by a terrorist bomb which takes out the entire craft. Eleanor sees her hopes & dreams crushed when the planet decides the cost to build another machine would be too great but the day is saved by an eccentric billionaire who has created a duplicate copy of the machine & still wants her to pilot it. Soon the mission is back on & she is loaded onto the craft & ready to launch.
Once the launch occurs Eleanor travels through space & time instantly to be greeted by a familiar figure. It appears to be her father or at least the image of her father. We come to learn the alien appeared this way so she would be comfortable around it. Once she gets back home there is evidence supporting that she had never left earth. She is made to wonder if any of the adventure was real.