(Life Through the Lens - Photo Illustration/MetroCreativeConnection)

“Do what you’re told.” So much of my life is based on what I was told. What I was handed. Where I was led.

***

Now, there is nothing wrong with teaching, guiding, prescribing, gifting. They are as natural as love itself. To love something genuinely urges for these things to swell and be shared. My five children deserve my best attempts to drive and direct. Love without opening doors and drawing maps is not love at all!

But… love must, at some point, cease carrying and insist on walking. Walking can only happen on the individual’s two, fully capable feet. Love is always eventually the “letting go.”

One of my favorite quotes is from the Buddha: “Do not accept something merely from tradition or out of blind faith. Do not accept it even on the word of your teacher. Ehipassiko: Go and see for yourself.”

This quote has shaped my last six years and my personal growth. It has shaped my parenting and my boundaries. If something cannot be personally observed, felt and wrestled with, it is not real. It is not authentic. It is a call for every individual to go and see for yourself. Not secondhand testimony – not distant tradition – not “just because” or “we have always” – it must be YOUR experience.

Beware: This way of thinking will rock your way of life. Your bedrock will shift. Your flimsy attempt at foundation will shudder and fall. If it is not YOURS, it must be tested and pressed.

If there are a million ways to live and think and believe, there can only be one clear and present guide: You. Your experience and your perception must be the principle on which you move forward.

If you have never truly tested your ability to walk, today is the day. Let your feet take you, your eyes inform you, your insight define you. Go and see for yourself.

***

Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster) is an untypical thinker. From her earliest memories with her father, she has believed in the improbable. Her relentless search for truth led her to a doctorate and a position in the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) program. Amidst universal doubt and extreme skepticism, Ellie is clear-mindedly concerned with the logic that a universe this large and expansive must house more than we know. It must!

Ellie’s energy and enthusiasm are not simply mocked – they are also stifled and vilified. Religious purists find it offensive and dangerous while the scientific elite find it frivolous and in poor taste. Ellie’s sincerity seems to rub everyone the wrong way… but try stopping her! I dare you.

Just when her parade seems doomed for eternal poop-showers, a wealthy and adventurous benefactor funds her mission of exploration. In the New Mexican dessert, after years of pouring over nothing but possibilities, a signal is discovered. It quickly becomes impossible to discount or discredit: Contact has been made. Ellie’s search for outlandish and mockable truth is rewarded as the world is abuzz!

As “the message” is decoded, it is decidedly more than just words – it is a set of directions. The beings want to show us something. If conversational contact is to be made, who should speak for humanity? Who best exemplifies us and our qualities and ideals? The risk, the reward, the enormity and impact – it is everything Ellie has been dreaming of her whole life… but does she speak for us?

<<< I was transported in wonder by Contact. From its earnest exploration to its soul-affirming certainty, it is dripping with truth. It takes no sides nor any prisoners; it simply begs/demands that the viewer confront and challenge. Renowned astronomer Carl Sagan wrote the book "Contact" in 1985 as a challenge: If humanity had to actually confront the reality of life outside planet Earth, what would that look like? Not Hollywood action movie - not glorified or demonized - just real. How would it affect relationships, religion, science, hope, fear? It could/would change everything! Leave it to director Robert Zemeckis to take on a project no one else had the guts to create. The subject matter, the visual demands, who else but Zemeckis? He has made a career out of such lofty ambitions. His control in "Contact" is precise yet organic. His collaboration with cinematographer Don Burgess creates some truly memorable moments and images, baffling yet effortless. The editing by Arthur Schmidt is sharp and purposeful. The visual effects by Stephen Rosenbaum are huge yet wonderfully integrated. I am beginning to understand just how remarkable Jodie Foster was/is. She has been Hollywood elite since the age of 14! She had two Oscars before age 30! She is prolific and polished and proud. Her work in front of and behind the camera is as impressive as anyone. I am a fan! Her work in "Contact" is honest and nourishing.Tom Skerritt is a wonderful, jerky-jerk villain as Dr. David Drumlin. James Woods is spectacular (as always) as aggressively-skeptical adviser to the president Michael Kitz. John Hurt is powerfully-placed as wealthy recluse S.R. Hadden. William Fichtner is a touching scientific ally for Ellie as blind astronomer Kent Clark. It was a movie I picked up in the $5 bin at Walmart. I'd heard of it ... but didn't know much about it. Let's put it this way, I am writing a 29-year anniversary review because I enjoyed it too much to wait until 30. REPORT CARD: Contact

Grade: A+

Assessment: An honest attempt at the unthinkable.