By Lysa Allman-Baldwin

With the Oscar awards coming up, everyone is talking about great movies and their impact and meaning. At Unity, the essence of films is often discussed in metaphysical terms. Here are a few insights from Unity movie buffs.

What Is Reality?
In the film Inception, nominated for Best Picture this year, the audience is challenged to ask themselves several important questions such as: “Is what we see reality or a dream?” “Do we create our own reality?” “What is the meaning of life?”

Rev. Duke Tufty, senior minister at Unity Temple on the Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri, says the “meaning of life” is progressive creative expression. “God-Spirit-Universal Mind holds within it the potential to create everything that will ever be. With every bit of potential, there is the desire to express that potential and manifest it in the physical world. As expressions of Spirit, each of us has potential to grow, evolve and become more. Our purpose is to apply ourselves to that potential or divine idea.”
 
Find Your Authentic Voice
Also nominated for Best Picture, The King's Speech is based on the true story of King George VI, father of the present Queen Elizabeth. He is thrust into the role of king in 1939 after the death of his father. With his country on the brink of war and in need of a strong leader, he struggles with a lifelong debilitating speech impediment. With the assistance of an eccentric speech therapist, the king is able to address his issues and find his own inner strength.

The central theme of the movie is about finding one's authentic voice says Ogun Holder, co-host of the Unity Online Radio program Unity Happy Hour. “Speaking from one's [place of] power is vital to creating the experience we desire,” Holder notes. “What we believe about ourselves informs our thinking, which in turn draws to us experiences and shapes our life. Finding one's authentic voice is finding oneself.”

A Journey of Choice
The movie (and best-selling book) Eat, Pray, Love is based on the real-life story of a woman's yearlong journey to rediscover her authentic self while traveling through Italy, India and Indonesia. Liz, the central character, must deal with several life issues including uncertainty, disappointment and the desire to be loved.

According to Charlotte Shelton, president and CEO of Unity World Headquarters at Unity Village, the story is a tribute to our human ability to change our thinking and, thus, change our lives. “Liz is willing to confront her internal demons (faulty assumptions and beliefs), thus moving from fear to love. In one scene she comments that ‘ruin is the beginning of transformation.' Well, chaos is the precursor to transformation. By engaging the chaos of changing our outdated beliefs, we change ourselves, opening up to love, and leaving fear behind.”

Opening ‘Pandora's Box'
Human greed and the search for material wealth, versus spiritual enlightenment and loving what is, are themes in the futuristic film Avatar. Shelton says she loved the film for a variety of reasons including the strong female presence, and that the faith of origin on the distant moon Pandora—Eywa, the All Mother—was described as a network of energy and the sum total of every living thing.

However, a movie review that disagreed with the film's spiritual perspective caused her to question whether Hollywood films mirror a shifting spiritual world view, or help to create one. “Maybe it's some of both,” she notes. “Regardless, there is much data to suggest that Americans' view of spirituality is shifting from the literal-mindedness of fundamentalist religions to a more inclusive view that recognizes the underlying unity of all that is. This, of course, has been Unity's perspective for 120 years.”

Only the Shadow Knows?
Going back a few years to the comedy Groundhog Day, the protagonist, Phil, has fallen into a perpetual cycle of returning to the day before—in this case Groundhog Day. Yet nobody around him seems to see or understand that this is happening. It's no coincidence he has the same name as Phil the Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania groundhog dragged from his burrow every year to forecast an early spring if he does not see his shadow, or six more weeks of winter if he does.

According to Rev. Tom Thorpe, a faculty member at Unity Institute and Seminary and host of the Unity Online Radio program Discovering Eric Butterworth, just like groundhogs that become frightened and look for a place to hide when they see their shadows, humans sometimes do the same thing. “People tend to see things not as they are but as we are,” he says. “We see the world through the lenses of our own perception, our own not-always-obvious belief systems. Often what we see depends on where we're focusing our attention on a particular day.”

What we see, Thorpe says, sometimes offers a moment of insight where we clearly glimpse what is really going on within us. Yet we still hide, preferring the comfort of our illusions to the revealing light of Truth. “When we discover something about ourselves that's troubling, we have reason to celebrate. Discovery offers us the option to respond, to address the issue that has caused us to be upset. If we didn't know we were upset, we couldn't do much about it. But once we know, we have a place to begin the work of self-transformation. We can ask God to show us what we're not seeing; to show us the treasure that may be hiding in the shadows we hesitate to look at.”

The Secret Lies Within
In the movie Kung Fu Panda the main character, Po, a clumsy, overweight and somewhat lazy panda bear, is inadvertently thrust into the role of fulfilling an ancient prophecy. He must become the Dragon Warrior, the greatest of all Kung Fu warriors, and defeat the powerful villain spreading chaos throughout the countryside. Po is met with much criticism and doubt from others and himself.

“Although Po's friends and guru helped him master the necessary marital arts skills to defeat the villain, his lack of belief in himself held him back,” says Jim Blake, a ministerial student at Unity Institute and Seminary. ”What Po, and really all of us need, is to practice self-love and acceptance and believe that we are good enough—Divinely perfect—to accomplish whatever dream we may hold for ourselves.”
 
Po ultimately finds what he needs—a Dragon Scroll—and discovers that there are no instructions, but rather only his own reflection. At that moment, he understands there is nothing special he needs to do or have to be victorious. “We can all apply this lesson to our own lives,” Blake says, “through the realization that each of us contains that spark of divinity within, and that we are whole and perfect just as we are.”

A Guide to Spiritual Films
Many people who are interested in Unity and New Thought ideology often look for films with a spiritual or metaphysical “message behind the message.” For a complete list of classic films with spiritual content—including interpretations and recommendations—check out Unity's special offer on the book Reel Spirit now available for $1.50 with free shipping.

The article “Transformational Films: A Genre on the Threshold” offers an in-depth perspective about the growing trend toward inspirational films and the organizations and film festivals that support them.