Worldviews 345-102-MQ

World Views

345-102-MQ

SCIENCE AND RELIGION IN THE MOVIE CONTACT

Essay presented to Jean-Luc Gauville

College LaSalle

April, 15th 2014

Introduction

Over the centuries, Science and Religion have been in conflict. Some people say that the conflict between science and religion is merely a myth, just like James Hannam mentions in his article “Debunking the Mythical Conflict between Science and Religion”^[1]. We all have a different way of seeing things, that’s called a “world view”, each and every one of us think differently, that’s why many conflicts arise between mankind. The conflict between science and religion is very complex to resolve. In the movie Contact, we can clearly detect different types of worldviews, all the characters think and see the world differently, but at the end, the hero changes her perspective towards science and religion by following a complex journey. In this essay we will discuss how the movie Contact solves the dispute between science and religion by analyzing the main characters of the movie, by connecting the movie to Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey”, and finally this analysis will help us have a better understanding of the conflict between those two sciences and how does the movie resolves the conflict.

Analysis of the Characters

Through the analysis of the characters, we can see that not all of them think equally. Having a wide range of worldviews can assist us in the understanding of the conflict between science and religion.

First of all, there’s the main character which is Dr. Eleanor “Ellie” Ann Arroway who works for SETI (Search for extraterrestrial Intelligence). She is the hero of the movie, she is considered as the hero because she passes through the hero’s journey and helps us solve the conflict between the two most powerful sciences in the world. At first she starts as an atheist^[2], her world view as a scientist is based almost on scientific materialism, since she believes in science but she doesn’t believe in a supreme power. She also denies the reality of religious manifestation, in the movie she declares that she does not believe in God, an example of this is when Ellie says: “So what’s more likely? That an all-powerful, mysterious god created the universe, and decided not to give any proof of his existence? Or that he simply doesn’t exist at all and that we created him so that we wouldn’t have to feel so small and alone?”^[3]. The hero’s journey help Ellie resolve the conflict and finally becomes complementary perspective^[4].

In every hero’s journey, there’s someone who will help the hero achieve his/her goal. In this case, Palmer Joss makes Ellie think differently even if at the beginning she didn’t agree with him, they both understand each other at the end of the movie. His world view is based on a complementary perspective since he is a liberal Christian but he also accepts science, an example of this is when he says: “I’m not against technology, doctor. I’m against the men who deify it at the expense of human truth”, Palmer Joss^[5]. He believes in the spiritual world splitting the here and the mind. He plays an important role in the movie since he gives moral support to Ellie.

Also, there’s Michael Kitz which is a National Security advisor who is in charge of the Congressional Investigation of Ellie. From the beginning he is an obstacle for Ellie since he didn’t believe in her and neither at the end. He is very skeptical since he is an atheist with a scientific materialism^[6] world view. He thinks that all phenomena in science have a material cause even the human mind. Since Ellie couldn’t give him proofs of her experience, an example of this is when he says to Ellie: “Then why don’t you simply withdraw your testimony, and concede that this “journey to the center of the galaxy,” in fact, never took place!” ^[7] This proves that he does not believe in her.

        David Drumlin takes credit of Ellie’s discoveries, as the aide of the President of the United States; he talks as if he were the one who discovered the alien message. He wants to take over Ellie’s project. Then he cuts off his funding so he can take all the credit. He believes in complementary perspective even if the is an atheist, since a lot of people believe in a supreme deity. He is more open-minded.

        Another character who is really helpful in Ellie’s journey is Kent Clark. Regardless his blindness he is the one who discovers the sequence of the sounds transmitted in “the message”. He finds out that the sounds that were transmitting were numbers. This helps Ellie in her investigation. In the movie, they do not show his world view but he seems to think similar to the other scientists. He is more into the science part of the investigation rather than the spiritual part.

        S. R. Hadden helps also Ellie by funding her research, in order to contact the source of the message. The funding permits Ellie to have access to the VLA which is the sphere that allows her to go to the center of the galaxy. He is really interested in Ellie’s research; this leads him to decipher the message which was in 3 dimensions. This allows Ellie to continue her project and motivates her.

        Rachel Constantine is Kitz assistant; she is the one who informs the President about the findings of Hitler’s video. At the end she tells Kitz that she realized that the report recorder 18 hours of static, which was the precise amount of time that Ellie took in her experience: “What interests me is that it recorded approximately eighteen hours of it”, Constantine^[8]. This is a proof that Ellie actually spent 18 hours out of space. She can be considered as complementary perspective since she is not against the two sciences.  

        Joseph is clearly an extreme Christian Fundamentalist who condemns Ellie and the other scientists. He preaches against science. He enters the sphere with explosives on his chest and they notice in the security cameras. He detonates the explosives which destroys the sphere and the people who were inside it died.

        These characters show us the different world views that we can find in the movie.

The hero’s Journey

Joseph Campbell^[9] discusses the elements of a Hero’s Journey. A hero passes through a sequence of actions. For instance, in the movie Contact, the main character is the hero which in this case is Ellie Arroway. The hero does something beyond the normal range. A hero is someone who gives their life from others and sacrifices things to achieve their goals, an example: “Palmer Joss: By doing this, you’re willing to give your life, you’re willing to die for it. Why?” “Ellie: For as long as I can remember, I’ve been searching for something, some reason why we’re here. What are we doing here? Who are we? If this is a chance to find out even just a little part of that answer…I don’t know, I think it’s worth a human life. Don’t you?”^[10] The hero passes through 3 stages such as the departure, initiation and return. These steps help Ellie resolve the conflict between science and religion.

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