• Registered: 2005-09-22

Topic: The after-life in movies... any truth?

Several different ideas about what the after-life is like have appeared in contemporary movies. Could the powers that be be sending us important messages? Which one of these (if any) do you think are accurate? Please post any others that you consider to be important.

What Dreams May Come

After the death of their two children, Dr. Chris Nielson ( ´Robin Williams ´ ) and his wife Annie (Annabella Sciorra) find continuing their lives fraught with difficulties, especially for Annie. When Chris dies and goes to Heaven he meets Albert (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and discovers that Heaven is even more wondrous than anything he could have imagined. However, Chris ´s death is the last straw for Annie and in her madness commits suicide and journeys to a place very different from Chris. On discovering Annie ´s misfortune, Chris forces Albert to enlist the help of The Tracker (Max von Sydow) and together they journey into the depths of despair to discover the destiny of Annie ´s soul and attempt a rescue.

Defending Your Life

Albert Brooks proves there ´s laughs after death with this almost heavenly comedy--almost heaven as in Judgment City, where recently perished Daniel Miller (Brooks) learns whether he is worthy of advancing to a higher plane of existence or will be sent back to earth for another incarnation.
His fate will be determined in a very special trial, during which scenes from his life are replayed on a giant screen. "Isn ´t it realistic?" a judge asks. "It makes some people nauseous." While the steely prosecutor (Lee Grant) will try to prove that Daniel failed in life to face his fears and insecurities, his glad-handing, reassuring defender (Rip Torn) will argue on behalf of this hapless "little brain" (a Judgment City term for residents of earth).
As Woody Allen did for the future in Sleeper, so does Brooks create an original vision of the afterlife. In Judgment City, white-robed residents can eat as much as they want without guilt or fear of gaining weight. They can also visit the Past Lives Pavilion, where they are greeted by a hologram of--who else--Shirley MacLaine.
Daniel finds himself touched by an angel. Meryl Streep gives an enchanting performance as Julia, whose exemplary life is in stark contrast to his. During her trial, the court watches in rapture as she saves not only children, but a cat from a burning building.
Daniel and Julia are a match made in Judgment City, but first Daniel must summon up the courage to express his true feelings for her, or she will surely advance without him.

The Sixth Sense

Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Willis) is a successful child psychologist in Philadelphia. The night before he is to receive an award for his medical achievements, a former patient breaks into his house and kills himself.
Drenched in guilt, the doctor comes to the aid of a tormented lad (Osment) who can see ghosts. While making his analysis of the troubled boy, he discovers something that is not only fascinating, but could also be very dangerous.

Ghost

After renovating their expensive loft in the TriBeCa section of Manhattan, Molly and Sam, a young successful yuppie couple, are walking home one evening when Sam is tragically gunned down by a street mugger. Molly goes into a deep depression, but, unknown to her, Sam has come back as a ghost in order to protect her from danger--although he isnt yet aware who or what means her harm, and he has a lot of learning to do in order to make himself known to her. He teams up with an unwilling psychic, and together they try to convince a very skeptical Molly that Sam was actually murdered and has returned spectrally to complete some unfinished business.

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  • Registered: 2004-12-06

Re: The after-life in movies... any truth?

Although I believe that we should worry about now, rather than speculate about what can not possibly be comprehended by humans in our current level, I think none of these movies have a great grasp of what death could be.

If anyone has played FF7(Final Fantasy 7), or watched the movie FF7:AC(Final Fantasy 7:Advent Children) I would think that would be what I think death is somewhat like. Like energy, our metaphysical being experiences a law similar to the First law of Thermodynamics(matter and energy can not be created nor destroyed, it can only change form) so when we die, we may join the "lifestream" Something like that. tongue

@onionworld, the movies "ghost" and "the sixth sense" both give an idea of what the step toward the afterlife is, not what the actual afterlife is, because after they help someone, they both depart into the next life.

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  • Registered: 2005-09-22

Re: The after-life in movies... any truth?

chinesejycc wrote:

If anyone has played FF7(Final Fantasy 7), or watched the movie FF7:AC(Final Fantasy 7:Advent Children) I would think that would be what I think death is somewhat like. Like energy, our metaphysical being experiences a law similar to the First law of Thermodynamics(matter and energy can not be created nor destroyed, it can only change form) so when we die, we may join the "lifestream" Something like that. tongue

I've envisioned something like that too. I had a dream where I saw myself, alone, surrounded by white space. The cool thing was that I could "use" that white shpace to create anything I wanted. But, at the same time, I'm not sure whether or not I had a body there. I was looking at everything through my eyes but I wasn't aware of having a body.

  • Registered: 2004-04-21

Re: The after-life in movies... any truth?

I saw a program the other night about a woman blind from birth who "saw" herself during a NDE.  This made me think that what we consider to be the inner self, the spirit, may not actually reside inside the physical body but the other way around.  I propose that this spiritual essence has always resided in what we call the after-life, although when in the physical body we can't directly perceive this.

5 Reply by lyra (edited by lyra 2005-10-05 06:26:09)

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Re: The after-life in movies... any truth?

A few more:

Jacob's Ladder 1990, Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Pena, Danny Aiello, and a little Macaulay Culkin. smile

"A traumatized Vietnam war veteran finds out that his post-war life isn't what he believes it to be when he's attacked by horned creatures in the subway and his dead son comes to visit him."



*Spoilers Spoilers Spoilers!*

Don't read the following if you don't want to know!


This is your last chance!  Turn back now, before it's too late!!!   big_smile



Jacob actually died in battle, although he didn't realize it.  After the scene where he is injured in what we're led to believe is an ambush, the next scene jumps to Jacob back home again, post-war, in New York City, riding the subway home from work to his modest little apartment and live in girlfriend.  He also has an ex-wife, two kids, and one son that had died while he was in Vietnam.  So he's got his new life, and he's plugging along.....but then halfway through the movie he wakes up in bed back with his ex-wife and kids - with his third son still alive - in his old life, and we're led to believe that the other existance was just a bad dream.  But then he switches back again to his girlfriend.   And so it goes, in the in-between world of someone who doesn't know they're dead.   All the while, Jacob keeps encountering these black, faceless "demons" that appear suddenly;  there's trips to the chiropractor Louis, who is his guide of sorts, the person Jacob confides in while getting treatment, and who also has an "angelic" quality about him, always pleasant, smiling, with lighting that makes him appear to radiate; and a dark mystery that needs to be solved about what really happened to Jacob and the other soldiers that fateful day they were all ambushed in the jungle.   Things aren't what they seem to be;  the United States Governnment with its mind control drug experiments on their military personnel was actually the enemy, not the Vietnamese.


I like this movie because it's not just a movie about a guy who doesn't know he's dead;  it's dark, it's gripping, and it's well done, with elements you don't normally see in other movies - such as the issue surrounding the U.S. military performing mind control drug experiments on their own personnel.  How often do we see THAT in a movie, you know?   It's a must see, I think.  We own it.

"Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting "Holy shit ... what a ride!"  - Anonymous
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  • Registered: 2005-09-18

Re: The after-life in movies... any truth?

Energy wrote:

And what about the Matrix?  ;-)  Perhaps a movie that is so steeped in symbology you'd need an angel to understand it.  smile 

Energy

Ain't that the truth Brother!

  • Registered: 2005-09-22

Re: The after-life in movies... any truth?

Energy wrote:

And what about the Matrix?  ;-)  Perhaps a movie that is so steeped in symbology you'd need an angel to understand it.  smile 

Energy

Are you talking about the scene where Neo was cut loose from the machines? I don't know what you're talking about, please tell me. hmm

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Re: The after-life in movies... any truth?

onionworld wrote:

Are you talking about the scene where Neo was cut loose from the machines? I don't know what you're talking about, please tell me. hmm

Onionworld, just search Google for "Matrix symbolism" and you'll find plenty on the subject. 

When you need to find information about subjects you're not familiar with, this is how to do it.

9 Reply by onionworld (edited by onionworld 2005-10-05 17:09:36)

  • Registered: 2005-09-22

Re: The after-life in movies... any truth?

lyra wrote:

A few more:

Jacob's Ladder 1990, Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Pena, Danny Aiello, and a little Macaulay Culkin. smile

"A traumatized Vietnam war veteran finds out that his post-war life isn't what he believes it to be when he's attacked by horned creatures in the subway and his dead son comes to visit him."



*Spoilers Spoilers Spoilers!*

Don't read the following if you don't want to know!


This is your last chance!  Turn back now, before it's too late!!!   big_smile



Jacob actually died in battle, although he didn't realize it.  After the scene where he is injured in what we're led to believe is an ambush, the next scene jumps to Jacob back home again, post-war, in New York City, riding the subway home from work to his modest little apartment and live in girlfriend.  He also has an ex-wife, two kids, and one son that had died while he was in Vietnam.  So he's got his new life, and he's plugging along.....but then halfway through the movie he wakes up in bed back with his ex-wife and kids - with his third son still alive - in his old life, and we're led to believe that the other existance was just a bad dream.  But then he switches back again to his girlfriend.   And so it goes, in the in-between world of someone who doesn't know they're dead.   All the while, Jacob keeps encountering these black, faceless "demons" that appear suddenly;  there's trips to the chiropractor Louis, who is his guide of sorts, the person Jacob confides in while getting treatment, and who also has an "angelic" quality about him, always pleasant, smiling, with lighting that makes him appear to radiate; and a dark mystery that needs to be solved about what really happened to Jacob and the other soldiers that fateful day they were all ambushed in the jungle.   Things aren't what they seem to be;  the United States Governnment with its mind control drug experiments on their military personnel was actually the enemy, not the Vietnamese.


I like this movie because it's not just a movie about a guy who doesn't know he's dead;  it's dark, it's gripping, and it's well done, with elements you don't normally see in other movies - such as the issue surrounding the U.S. military performing mind control drug experiments on their own personnel.  How often do we see THAT in a movie, you know?   It's a must see, I think.  We own it.

Wow is that interesting! Look at the movies we've talked about in this thread, in most of them, people don't realize they're dead after they die. Is it possible that some of us are dead but don't know it. neutral

You know how David Icke says that the Illuminati are "literal projections." Could they be dead people who don't realize that they're dead???????????? This would explain a lot of what I've seen in the world that I don't understand. But, then what if we're ALL DEAD and we don't realize it? What if this is actually hell and the reptiles are our wardens?

10 Reply by morningsun76 (edited by morningsun76 2005-10-05 17:23:20)

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Re: The after-life in movies... any truth?

onionworld wrote:

Wow is that interesting! Look at the movies we've talked about in this thread, in most of them, people don't realize their dead after they die. Is it possible that some of us are dead but don't know it. neutral

Yes, I think that's the point.  So many people are walking around in a virtually comatose state; trying to "wake up" from this condition is what brings many of us to investigating the sorts of subjects you see here on NR.

onionworld wrote:

What if this is actually hell and the reptiles are our wardens?

big_smile  You know, it's funny... a few days ago, I watched "The Exorcist" for the first time.  During the most intense part of the exorcism ritual, you can clearly see the silhouette image of a winged reptilian (of the ancient Sumerian sort) being depicted in the back of the room for a few seconds.   Yesterday, I watching part 2 of David Icke's three-part interview with Credo Mutwa, and one thing Credo mentioned was that it was always considered forbidden to depicted the reptilians as they actually were ... they could only be shown in silhouette.    I find interesting not only the connection between what he said and what was depicted in the movie, but the fact that I ended up viewing both titles within a couple days of each other.

  • Registered: 2005-09-22

Re: The after-life in movies... any truth?

morningsun76 wrote:
onionworld wrote:

Wow is that interesting! Look at the movies we've talked about in this thread, in most of them, people don't realize their dead after they die. Is it possible that some of us are dead but don't know it. :|

Yes, I think that's the point.  So many people are walking around in a virtually comatose state; trying to "wake up" from this condition is what brings many of us to investigating the sorts of subjects you see here on NR.

Are you saying that being "dead" is a spiritual state of being rather than what we usually think of it as (i.e. our physical bodies ceasing to function)?

  • Registered: 2005-09-22

Re: The after-life in movies... any truth?

morningsun76 wrote:
onionworld wrote:

Wow is that interesting! Look at the movies we've talked about in this thread, in most of them, people don't realize their dead after they die. Is it possible that some of us are dead but don't know it. :|

Yes, I think that's the point.  So many people are walking around in a virtually comatose state; trying to "wake up" from this condition is what brings many of us to investigating the sorts of subjects you see here on NR.

onionworld wrote:

What if this is actually hell and the reptiles are our wardens?

:D  You know, it's funny... a few days ago, I watched "The Exorcist" for the first time.  During the most intense part of the exorcism ritual, you can clearly see the silhouette image of a winged reptilian (of the ancient Sumerian sort) being depicted in the back of the room for a few seconds.   Yesterday, I watching part 2 of David Icke's three-part interview with Credo Mutwa, and one thing Credo mentioned was that it was always considered forbidden to depicted the reptilians as they actually were ... they could only be shown in silhouette.    I find interesting not only the connection between what he said and what was depicted in the movie, but the fact that I ended up viewing both titles within a couple days of each other.

That's amazing about "The Exorcist"! I really want to watch that movie again now. Was that the new version of the movie (the director's cut that came out a few years ago) or the old one?

13 Reply by Ian (edited by Ian 2005-10-05 17:30:06)

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Re: The after-life in movies... any truth?

If we were "physically dead", why would we have a body and be able to communicate like we do? Even if we had died and this is some illusory world we have created to keep the illusion of life going with us trapped in it, then were back at squared one. Either scenario is the same and we could go into an infinite regress of matrices within matrices. So I think the idea of fooling ourselves and of not realizing our own predicament is a more important theme to extract from these movies than "what does the after-life look like?" In general, soul atrophy and zombieness (i.e. the living dead) do describe a large part of society.

14 Reply by morningsun76 (edited by morningsun76 2005-10-05 17:35:00)

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Re: The after-life in movies... any truth?

onionworld wrote:

Are you saying that being "dead" is a spiritual state of being rather than what we usually think of it as (i.e. our physical bodies ceasing to function)?

I am saying that some stories might use physical death as a metaphor for spiritual death, yes.

onionworld wrote:

Was that the new version of the movie (the director's cut that came out a few years ago) or the old one?

I believe it was the "25th Anniversary Edition" if that helps.  Amazon does show a different version also available called "The Version You've Never Seen" which I'm guessing is the director's cut to which you refer.

Ian wrote:

... we could go into an infinite regress of matrices within matrices. So I think the idea of fooling ourselves and of not realizing our own predicament is a more important theme to extract from these movies than "what does the after-life look like?"

I agree.

  • Registered: 2005-09-22

Re: The after-life in movies... any truth?

morningsun76 wrote:
onionworld wrote:

Are you saying that being "dead" is a spiritual state of being rather than what we usually think of it as (i.e. our physical bodies ceasing to function)?

I am saying that some stories might use physical death as a metaphor for spiritual death, yes.

What is spiritual death?