New Consciousness Review Spring, 2017 | Page 33

CONSCIOUS CINEMA

Such a capacity places considerable might in our hands . Indeed , as author and conscious creation advocate Jane Roberts wrote in one of her seminal works , The Nature of Personal Reality , there ’ s enough power in our thoughts , beliefs and intents to send a rocket to the moon ( something which we as a species accomplished literally in 1969 !). So , given the stakes involved here , power thus becomes something that we need to examine carefully – and to manage and employ even more judiciously .
When we look at the myriad ways we can put power to use through our thoughts , beliefs and intents – either individually or collectively – it ’ s easy to see how it can be harnessed for an array of results , for better or worse . For some of us , this may be a piece of cake , but , for others , it can be tricky business indeed . For those of us who are less comfortable with that idea , tapping into sources of inspiration can prove quite beneficial in helping us get a handle on it , and , as with many conscious creation concepts , movies often provide us with great examples to draw from .
The first step in this process is recognizing that we , in fact , possess such power . And , to make the most of it , we must intentionally claim it for ourselves , especially if we feel as though we lack it , lost it or never possessed it in the first place . Such is the challenge profiled in “ Moonlight ” ( 2016 ), the saga of a young African-American man coming to terms with his emerging homosexuality in a community often ambivalent , if not downright hostile , toward his alternative lifestyle . Told in three chapters from the protagonist ’ s formative years ( portrayed superbly and seamlessly by Alex Hibbert , Ashton Sanders and Trevante Rhodes ), the film chronicles the odyssey of a soul-searching youth looking for his sense of personal empowerment and how to lead a life that he comes to believe is rightfully his .
Similar themes run through the more whimsical narrative of director Tim Burton ’ s inventive and award-winning adaptation of Lewis Carroll ’ s timeless fantasy , “ Alice in Wonderland ” ( 2010 ). In this version of the childhood classic , the hand of a now-20-year-old Alice ( Mia Wasikowska ) is promised to a suitor ( Leo Bill ) in whom she has no interest , a pending fate that threatens the future she envisions for herself . To extricate herself from these circumstances , Alice embarks on a surrealistic journey to learn how to reclaim her “ muchness ” – her own sense of personal power – to take her life ( and existence ) back . Her adventures provide an inspiring tale for audiences of all ages , meaningful viewing for kids in their formative years , as well as adults who believe they ’ ve lost control over the course of their lives .
Claiming – and subsequently managing – our power are themes that run through a variety of films , especially those in the superhero genre . Two fine examples come from the X-Men franchise , “ X-Men : Days of Future Past ” ( 2014 ), which deals with embracing our power , and “ X-Men : Apocalypse ” ( 2016 ), which examines how to manage it . In a similar vein , the action-adventure saga “ Watchmen ” ( 2009 ) plumbs these concepts as well , offering audiences an array of surprisingly profound insights for a film of this stripe . While the story lines of these three pictures are far too involved to detail here , they all effectively explore the nuances of these notions , accompanied by tremendous special effects , fun humor and well-developed narratives .
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