New Movie

Has anyone else seen this story? Wow! When will this come out and dare I ask how much will they charge? Here's the story:

CHICAGO, March 30 (Rueters) – The Wachowski brothers announced today the completion of a secretly developed breakthrough film titled, “A Ticket to Athens”. It builds upon their previous works including the ridiculously popular Matrix series. They gave us just a hint of the storyline by stating, “The story is based upon a conglomeration of historical stories such that a common integrated theme emerges that is both entertaining and educational."

What may be more interesting, however, is the fact that they will also be using a new audio and video technology that has been developed by technical specialists working for the non-profit organization called the Integral Institute. 

The Integral Institute was founded by the American philosopher Ken Wilber, known for writings which include the titles, “A Brief History of Everything” and “Grace and Grit” among others. The Institute is chartered to bring about self-described integral solutions to today’s biggest challenges facing humanity.

The Institute developed the video technology that displays the picture in a format that causes the viewer’s eyes to receive the displayed video in such a manner that the frequencies are slightly offset invoking a brain state that is described as highly open and capable to the learning process. It also produces a euphoric and pleasurable feeling. People familiar with the technology have stated that the viewers enter a mental state equivalent to that of a highly experienced monk in deep meditation.

In addition, the audio is delivered in a binaural beat format that works very much the same way. Similarly, there are many standalone binaural beat products that are on the market today that claim to enhance mind states. The most notable of these products is Holosync which claims to speed up the benefits of normal meditation. 

We recently had the opportunity to chat with Mr. Wilber following a recent experimental showing of the film. He enthusiastically explained, “There seems to be some kind of synergistic effect between the mental challenge of the story, along with the audio and video technology, which creates a sort of mental cross-training effect that has a profound effect on the development of the individual (viewer).” To his astonishment, he compared the watching of this 2 hour movie to the equivalent of 10 years of traditional meditation and development. His explanations were infused with so much excitement and energy it was hard for this reporter to know what to make of it.

He tried to explain how the movie moves the viewer up the development scale which consists of different colors for different levels as he went into exhausting detail about the development model that is used at the Integral Institute. He was barely pausing to catch his breath and in all honesty the whole explanation went way over this reporters head. He did provide a few concrete examples that were found to be interesting. 

In a recent trial viewing, they allowed 100 participants to view the movie and screened all of them to assess their level of development before and after the viewing. He gave three examples that stood out.

He talked about one particular individual who went into the movie with a classification of ‘blue’ in their development model. This person was described as a conservative Christian who recently joined the “Tea Party” political movement. She was wearing a Sarah Palin t-shirt. In a follow up interview the person described how the night after the viewing she stayed up all night and literally wept as the sun rose the next morning stating, “I never really appreciated the profound beauty of Nature before.” In the following days she left her affiliation with the “Tea Party” and reportedly switched to the Democratic Party. No word on the fate of the t-shirt.

Another participant was classified in the model as ‘orange’. He was an executive vice president at a major Wall Street brokerage house. Amazingly, after viewing the film, he went out the next day and quit his job and is reportedly trying to start a new financial firm where he vowed to take a salary of less than $100,000. He also donated all of the bonus money he had received in the last three years to a charity that helps people who are out of work find new jobs. He was quoted as saying “I just see how it all fits together now; it’s not just about me!”

Yet another individual who was classified as ‘green’ in the model and was characterized as the classic anti-war demonstrator was interviewed. She was told a story about an Iraqi family that had been murdered by Saddam Hussein prior to the war. She broke down in tears and openly admitted that she now had mixed feelings about the US involvement in Iraq. Her emotional reaction to a picture of George Bush went from pure rage to a “humph”.

There seems to be something going on here, but to be honest, this reporter is not really sure what all the fuss is about. It seems to be nothing more than the latest marketing ploy from Hollywood. Mr. Wilber sure seems excited about it. This bald man, who has eyes that seem so peaceful and at rest that just one gaze seems to put you at ease, kept gushing on and on about this and that and how it relates to the movie. Mr. Wilber closed our discussion with a prideful statement, “My life’s work seems to finally be paying off, for I have now been party to a great April fool’s joke!”