"I want to believe"

Be warned - this is a long entry.
Since I was this little I watched sci-fi shows. Be it The X-Files, SG-1 or Psi-Factor - I really loved those shows about aliens coming from the outer-space. I also watched some freaky show which told about ghosts, already mentioned aliens and Nazis and their secret bunkers where they've hidden treasures. And those stories really gave me goosebumps. I couldn't stand the first tunes of The X-files' music theme, it scared the hell out of me.

But I was 10...

Friend from work recommended me The Forth Kind with the whole "it really gets into your brain" and since it additionally was "based on a real story."

"OMG!" I thought. "Probably this film is going to be a total crap, but since I'm bored at work today and I can't draw¹⁾, at least I can kill some time watching it."

And I was right.


First things first. Generally the main character's husband is murder (knives, bed, unknown bad man), so Mrs. Psychologist decides to dedicate herself to the work and hopefully forget partially about her real-life nightmare. Apparently that work is talking with people who have problems with sleeping, are disturbed during the night. And the best cure for this would be... No. Not talking sessions to a regular psychiatrist, but hypnosis.

Mulder and his "I want to believe," anyone?

I can say that film is 2 in 1 (or even 3 in 1). In the beginning Mila Jovovich says that she is starring here, but there are also real footage as tapes (that 2nd part) and also interviews (3rd part) with the mentioned Dr. Abigail Tyler. Jovovich also adds that it's the viewers choice to believe or not. You can just feel this drama seeping through the screen.

As you probably can read between the lines - I didn't believe. As much as the story about aliens kidnapping people and experimenting on them may be scary and realistic... after few dosage of LSD that is... The "convincing" with "real tapes" and "facts" is so American, and so brute that it makes me wanna laugh and make a wtf-face.

But I must point out few interesting things in this movie.

#1 - realistic views

Action of the film takes place in a small town called Nome, Alaska. A place where "you have to fly," because there is no access by land. To really feel how magnificent nature is there and what forgotten by the civilisation that part of world is (and therefore no-one will notice people abducted by aliens) here is a screen from the film:

And now how Nome looks like for real:

What can I say? Bulgaria looks really pretty in that time of year. I'm really thinking about going for holidays there.

I read an interview on CNN with a local resident who pointed one thing - that apparently no-one from the producers' team hasn't visited this charming part of the world

#2 - "authentic" tapes and data

In the movie "fictional" scenes are mixed with the "real" ones.  Sound is split on both channels, other time sounds is from the real tape while Jovovich is making faces. Stuff like that.

Recorded "sessions" of dr. Abigail's patients look like taken from The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Faces twisted in pain, confusion. Also some static and interference appears. AND! A huge "and" here - people start to levitate. I mean... yeah... First time in human history people start flying on their own and no-one ever decided to say about it. And those tapes even it this form never appeared on the web before.

Here also I can't forget to mention about the "authentic" number mentioned just before the credits. "2000 visits by the FBI in Nome (...) with just 353 visits in Anchorage."

I had statistics classes at my university, so I have some kind of idea how the statistics are done. I also work in a company which has to... show stats in specific way. But first things first 2000 visits over last 50 years, gives us... 40 visits per year. Still a lot, yet the number isn't as impressive as before. But... may I ask for the source of those numbers? One of the basic stuff you learn on the internet and in advertisement (or generally in this big bad world) is not to believe anything which doesn't have a label where it came from, made by whom and so on.

Lately I read statistics that 80% of my fellow countrywomen doesn't take a bath everyday.

1. Studies were done for a company which produces cosmetics, perfumes, deodorants.
2. They had a major campaign about getting rid of "that terrible smell."
3. What exactly do you mean by "bath?" Sitting in a bath for 30 minutes? Or washing in general? You can take a shower everyday, because it's faster and a long bath with book reading, oils one evening in a week (highly recommend by me) and this way you're still not bathing everyday.

Do you see my point?

FBI was called to investigate small chain of disappearances in 2005. Eight bodies were not found, but hey... that's Alaska. It's kind of cold there. When you think about it, it's a small town, where there is nothing to do, I bet some unemployment, alcohol is available. So what's more probable: being taken by aliens or drinking a bottle of vodka during a winter-trip to the woods and falling asleep (in the end dying out of freezing) somewhere?

#3 - logo of the university

Now this is a genius move if you ask me. For real.

During the interviews with the doctor logo of Chapman University appears. This gives some credits, because "it's an university" and "it has smart people there." And who knows? Maybe they even have a whole department, because for sure they did some studies if this interview appears in the movie, which deals with the unexplained things?

Well, no. Let's bring up some facts. Guess where our director got his master's degree? Yes! You're right - Chapman  University. My first thought? That it was some project for classes. But later I read on OCWeekly that they did even more tricky thing.

Mary Platt, Chapman's communications director, tells Clockwork that early this past summer, Universal asked the university, on behalf of Osunsanmi, for permission to use Chapman University's name in the then-upcoming film. "It was apparent to us (and presented to us) that this would be a kind of inside joke and insider-tribute to our alumnus for his first nationally released major motion picture," Platt writes in an email.

Inside joke, my ass :>

You got pwned!

On the other hand - university got major feedback. People from all over the world wrote them e-mails if Champan really did those interviews, has a study section about alien abtuctions, do they know they got pwned by Universal. Even I did some check if this university really exists or it's a fake one made up just for the film. So... free advertisement. It doesn't matter if they talk about you good or bad, they are talking, right?

Also another thing I would like to mention when it comes to those interviews (which is also a good move if you ask me) is the look of the actress playing the real Dr. A. Mila Jovovich is an actress. A pretty one. We all know from the beginning of the movie that her part was recorded with other actors, cameras. It's fictional. But then we see a much worse picture (grain, colours), worried director of the piece and Dr. A. who looks... average. She looks like me or you. She is also very thin, has big eyes and... looks as if she came through a lot. So take her and put her next to Jovovich. Automatically you start to believe the "real" one. Especially since she's on a wheel chair and crying.

I love those manipulation techniques :3

Wrapping everything up. Is it a good film? Hmm... Not really. Scary? Depends how much you want to believe in such stories. I think I used my amount of belief when I was little and for the Catholic upbringing. Now I'm a pain in the ass if you want to watch pseudo-scary-sci-fi things with me (look: Panic room and "let's on the floor because there is air there since they are putting gas here") that try to be "as true and realistic as possible."

I like being tricked by the authors, but in smart way so I can say "oh! I haven't seen that coming. Good one." And not tricks used over and over again like scary music when a zombie jumps about of the closet, tapes where you can't see anything but are "authentic" or "based on a real story" quotes. And all of this with no sense of realism ;___; Please, make me doubt, make me question the reality around me. If I want to see a comedy I will go and see Scary Movie.

Ouch. A really long post. But I'm bored at work lately, so you have to excuse my ranting ^^"

¹⁾ Because I'm doing new episode of MATW. One drawing is already done with some sketches of the rest, but I need to wrap it up in one and then do some photoshoping.