1. Think about Drumlin's statement to the effect that he actually wishes the world were a fair place and one where idealism was rewarded. Do you think he is sincere in this wish? What do you think of Ellie's response ("Funny, I always believed the world is what we make of it")?
2. Think about Ellie's words as she comments on her experience in the capsule:
She is so enraptured by the celestial phenomena around her that she suggests Earth should have sent a poet and that the scene can't be described, that words are inadequate. Does this sound like a religious experience to you?
3. What did you think of the alien's message? Does his description of humanity ring true? Did he really answer any important questions about the meaning of life, or do these aliens sound just as bewildered and uncertain as human beings?
Judging by the way that Drumlin acts during the movie, I would say that he is not very sincere with his wish. I think Ellie's response shows that even though she does not believe in religion, she still respects other people's views of the world. Ellie's space travel experience does sound like a religious experience of sorts. It in some ways parallels Palmer's experience with God as they are both at a loss for word as to how to describe their experiences. I think the alien's description of humanity is very true. People can achieve so much yet destroy it all as the same time. This is shown in the movie when the first machine, which was the most expensive and risky operation in the world was built, only to be bombed by one person. The alien did not really answer anything about life. Even though they are much more advanced technologically than us, they are still the same as us in terms of knowing where they came from.
ReplyDeleteI have to say he was and not sincere because everything that Ellie did and copied it. If was a fair place he would have never gotten the chance to go. So i think that he just want to say sorry in a way that didn't make him a jackass. The way that Ellie put it to him was that u make world in your own image.She is right but wrong because to people we believe we have the power to activity chance our destiny. Still most people don't know that the chooses are there but ones that we choose are activated or materialized. So isn't possible that the chooses to materialized before because how the matter is arranged. In my opinion god could have made this. Which people will say he only had six days to make earth and other people say it was the big bang theory or evolution. My question to all the people out there what if god preserves time then what we think it is. Maybe the six days mean more then what we think six days are. The aliens do show the answer of life that we learn to live with ourselves but only time will tell if we can live together in peace. That can be translated in two ways. First we are alone but will we will learn to live with each other controlling our races fate or survival. Finally we don't know what will happen only time will tell us when it is our time to find out.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that his statment was sincere, because of his actions during the course of the movie. Drumline would take any chance he could get to further his appereance, what I mean by that is he would do anything or steal anything to make it look like he did it or to help him in life. Ellie's response meant that the world can be anything you want it to be, because the world can be nice, but also can be terrible and frighting. I think that this experience has to do with her trying to think that there is no God, and by doing that she tries to think of all of the other possiblites. Ellie was trying to think of a scientific reason for what was happening. The alien's message did not really explain that much. I thought that the message was just kind of the alien's not talking about Earth or anything important. I do not think that the alien's description of humanity was true, because humanity is anything that we can think of so maybe, evolution is right or that we were all made by God. So, in a sense the alien's look at humanity is a right answer. He did not really answer anything important about life, he just talked about other things not really on that subject.
ReplyDeleteThese aliens also sound that they do not fully understand life and humans.
ReplyDeleteDr drumlin only say the things that he does because he wants to be the one who makes history. originally he was the one that believed it was impossible to find any signals of aliens, and he is being such a hypocrite. Ellie's remark is smart because drumlin was only trying to fool the people, and it proved him wrong. i think Ellie's time in the capsule was not a religious experience because it could be highly possible for that to happen. I think the alien was just as confused as the humans because they did not know who made the planet. they think it was a higher power that made that planet and he said that this is how it was done for many years.
ReplyDeleteDuring the course of the movie and the way he acted i would say that he is not sincere. That she does not believe in God but does not outright say he does not exist. Her words do sound like a religious experience in my mind. I believe that in that moment there is no words that can be adequate enough. I do not think the description of the humanity ring is true. The alien did answer important questions about the meaning of life but at the same time was on the same ground as us
ReplyDeleteI think that Drumlin was sincere when he said that he wished the world was a fair place, but at the same time I think he only felt comfortable enough to say that because he was getting what he wanted. I think Ellie didn't believe he was being sincere. Her response shows that she is very optimistic while Drumlin is a bit more realistic. Ellie's reaction to the space trip definitely sounds like the description people usually give to religious experiences. It is something that one person experiences and others may or may not witness it. The alien's description of humanity is exactly right. Humans have the power to create a world of beauty and peace and justice, yet in our quest to become the best possibly society, we deface and destroy more and more of our planet and each other. The alien didn't answer any grand questions, it just told Ellie that its species was as lost as hers.
ReplyDeleteFor Drumlin, I would agree with Ellie in that the only reason Drumlin sees the world as an unfair place is because of him projecting his own nihilistic views onto it. In short, he sees only what he thinks he will see. In Ellie's journey through the machine, I would say that yes, her experience is so astounding that even if they did send a poet, there is probably no way to describe the shear beauty of what she has seen. In this sense, it is similar to a religious experience in its indescribable nature. I would say that "enrapturing" is a perfect, yet ironic, word to describe Ellie's experience. Finally, i would say that the aliens' message on humans just shows how varied humans are, some being people of high moral caliber, who would give their lives for others, while others are tremendously selfish human beings who serve only themselves. This variance has been shown earlier in the film, with the various reactions, benign, insane, and overjoyed, to the news of the alien message.
ReplyDeleteDrumlin is a complete liar when he wishes for a fair planet. It's people like him that make the world an unjust place. I like Ellie's response because it shows that even thought she doesn't agree with religion and certain philosophies, she will respect their choice to believe in it. At the moment where she meets the aliens, an instant bond will occur between Ellie and Palmer because they both have experienced a supernatural signal. They learned alot because the alien talks about ideas very vaguely, but it makes sense. We are capable to do extraordinary things, yet we are also capable to do catastrophic things as well.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that Drumlin was sincere in his wish. He was trying to make Ellie feel like he cared about her project and was sorry that it wasn't working out. Drumlin didn't care, however. He only cares about what will make him famous and what will give him a good reputation, and Ellie sees that. Ellie's response was her way of telling Drumlin that the world would be a fair place if the people in it were fair. In essence, she was saying that he is unfair.
ReplyDeleteTo me, Ellie's experience does not sound religious. Her experience was incredible and astounding; it left her speechless and in awe. These things do not make the experience religious in nature. There are plenty of things that happen every day that leave people breathless. That does not mean that every wonderful experience is religious.
The alien spoke to Ellie like an older person would speak to a young child. It seemed like it had a lot of knowledge, but was withholding it until Ellie was ready to hear it. The alien only answered one important question about life: that we are not alone.
Drumlin only makes that backwards statement of apology for the sake of having something to say. It's almost as if he simply likes the sound of his own voice. Throughout the film so far he has only said what he has needed to say to get where he needs to go. At the beginning of the film, he mocks Palmer's spiritualism, and yet shortly before this penultimate interchange, he announces to the public that "Dr. Arroway cannot go because she does not represent the beliefs we hold so dearly". Ellie's parry to his thrust (that he acts as he does because the world is as it is) is better and obviously more morally forthright.
ReplyDeleteEllie's experience journeying through space definitely parallels a spiritual one. Her experience transcends all human thought and emotion and brings her to an umderstanding of Palmer's position.
Yes the alien's description of humanity rings true, but he really doesn't answer any great questions that haven't already been discussed or answered many times. The only clear certainty (beyond the echoed belief that all of this was creates by some higher power) is that we are not alone-- there are others out there.
Dr. Drumlin wants to make history so he just says things that are not true so truthfully you can't have any trust for this man because he is just a complete liar! He didn't think that any of this stuff that Ellie had fought for and has studied for a long time would be possible all he has had thought was the impossible stuff and he had guts to deny stating that none of this would happen. The aliens I believe were just clueless and I think they had no idea who and why this plant they are on exist, because they would not answer any for the questions that were being asked towards them.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that Dr. Drumlin sincerely means anything. During this movie, all he has been trying to do was make is mark in history and become important. He has taken credit for things that he hasn't done and he has pushed people out of the way. Ellie's statement is true in my opinion. We make our own decisions in this world so if we happen to make a bad one or one that produces bad karma for us, then it's our fault. We can't blame it on anyone but ourselves. Her experience was sort of like a religious experience. She didn't know how to describe anything and she couldn't really speak during it because she was so amazed. If anyone came in contact with God, they would have the same reaction. What the alien said was very true. Humans are destructive yet we are creative. We build and we destroy. We are imperfect. I don't think aliens are bewildered and uncertain. They are very aware of the things that go on in the universe. Them being there probably answered questions about life but did the alien didn't come right out and say things about life.
ReplyDeleteDrumlin, self-professed nihilist, says that the world is an unfair place, and acting in a way that denies this is placing us at a disadvantage. However, by acting nihilistically, he is helping to make the world the way he says it is.
ReplyDeleteWhen ellie sees the view from the sphere, her experience reminds me quite a lot of the experience Palmer describes to Ellie. She is so overwhelmed by what she experiences that she has trouble descirbing it, but it is this indescribability that makes her so certain that she could not have made it up. It sounds very much like a religious experience to me.
Clearly, the aliens do not know much about the nature of the universe. However, as they run the transit system and told Ellie a pretty accurate summary of humanity, they also know quite a bit more than we do.
I think drumlin is sincere in this wish by the way that he speaks throughout the movie after that wish. This also shows that he is more toward reason than faith. Ellie’s response shows that she is surprised he said that and she is more toward faith than reason.
ReplyDeleteEllie’s words as she comments her experience in the capsule indicates that she is really scared but only has the choice to claim it is real Instead of denying it and saying it is a dream. In other words, this is called a miracle.
1. I don't think that Drumlin is sincere in his wish for the world to be a fair place and where idealism is rewarded. He only tells this to Ellie to make him feel better about himself and to, in his own mind, justify what he did to Ellie; which was cheat her out of being the tester of the machine by lying to the jury. Ellie's response is mostly true, that the world is what we make of it. However there are some exceptions to this statement once you consider that sometimes life doesn't deal you a hand you can work with, but for the most part we can make the world whatever we want it to be.
ReplyDelete2. To me Ellie's travel through a wormhole to Vega isn't a religious experience at all. She is simply at a loss for words to describe her experience. Since no one had actually been in a wormhole before, how could she relate it to something that others would understand? That is why she has difficulty describing the experience.
3. The alien's message is vague and is simply what the aliens think and know of humanity. The aliens description of humanity is that we are capable of such "beautiful dreams" and "terrible nightmares" which is true. There are many wonderful things in the human world, but also some horrible, unexplainable things that al so happen in the human world. The aliens seem just as bewildered about the meaning of life as humans do. They don't know where they came from or where they are going. The alien knows that they need to take "baby steps" for both aliens and humans to figure it all out.