journal.novachild.com: Movie "Review": Indigo

Movie "Review": Indigo
1/30/2005

Having no real previous exposure to the idea of "indigo children," I agreed to catch a screening of this movie written by two 'spiritual gurus' of our times, Neal Donald Walsh (Conversations with God) and James Twyman.

The screening was held at a local Unity church, which is an organization branched from the New Thought movement of the early 20th Century. I had never been to a Unity church, so this was also a new experience for me.

The church was very nice, with a circular chapel and plenty of space. Upon our late arrival, I noticed the Christian undertones of the Unity church, as opposed to the more 'universal' approach of the Science of Mind center I have grown accustomed to attending. Though the ideology of each 'religion' is generally the same, Unity focuses more on Christ and the bible than I am comfortable with. I am rather put off by Western religious symbolism and ritual, but it wasn't a distraction for watching the film (which, in its own way, emulated my feelings).

Now back to the review. The basic plot centers around a little girl with special powers and her chemistry with her cynical grandfather. Through allegory, we are presented the recycled messianic ideology of "Indigo Children." Basically, these children have psi abilities, and they are able to heal with their hands. They communicate on a psychic energy grid, and they have 'indigo' auras that give them special abilities. The general theory behind IC is that Mother Nature has taken an extreme leap of evolution so that we could have a race of humans capable of saving us from ourselves. At least that is my impression of the idea at first glance.

It all seems a bit airy-fairy to mee, but first to the technical/artistic review.

The film suffers from lack of artistic depth. Regardless of who is directing (Stephen Simon, who produced the brilliant and somewhat depressing film Somewhere in Time), it feels like a made-for-Lifetime-TV movie, but worse. The acting - by nearly everyone involved - is cardboard dry and occasionally nauseating. No character has any real conviction, though the little girl sure is cute; like a high-school play, everyone is simply going through the motions and playing out their lines. I wasn't expecting Werner Herzog or even Stephen Soderburg, but one expects more than basic home computer editing for a $10 price tag (and no Popcorn!). While it wasn't entirely painful (and believe me, I know what painful is - can you say Manos: Hands of Fate?), I feel my time and money was wasted on this film.

The story is nothing new. I looked up "Indigo Children" and she plays the part well enough, with some rather miraculous enhancements. According to indigochild.com:

They come into the world with a feeling of royalty (and often act like it).
They have a feeling of "deserving to be here," and are surprised when others don't share that.
Self-worth is not a big issue. They often tell the parents "who they are."
They have difficulty with absolute authority (authority without explanation or choice).
They simply will not do certain things; for example, waiting in line is difficult for them.
They get frustrated with systems that are ritually oriented and don't require creative thought.
They often see better ways of doing things, both at home and in school, which makes them seem like "system busters" (nonconforming to any system).
They seem antisocial unless they are with their own kind. If there are no others of like consciousness around them, they often turn inward, feeling like no other human understands them. School is often extremely difficult for them socially.
They will not respond to "guilt" discipline ("Wait till your father gets home and finds out what you did").
They are not shy in letting you know what they need.

So basically, I am an indigo child. I fit every one of these points extremely. This is the root of the problem I have with the film. It's a charming little attraction, this indigo meme. It reminds me of the Star Child meme, and the ADD meme (not saying that some people don't have ADD, but it's become too much of a fad for everyone to THINK they have ADD).

In fact, looking at everyone I know, I probably fit the mold better than any of them. But alas it is not to be, though it would be easy to buy into the idea if I needed an esteem booster. So I am not a believer.

I can't begin to explain the disdain and full-on wrath I have for this film. It was so terribly shallow, and it makes the organizations promoting it look silly. The idea that certain children have special abilities that nobody else has makes for great comic book reading, and it's nice that they can see angels and dead people, but I just don't buy the package that they have woven together. The reason I got away from Christianity was because it taught separation, that Christ himself was an unattainable goal, that he and his kind come down to earth and do a little miracle jig as if to say "Hey, we're these great supernatural beings with all these special powers that you can't have, and you must worship us and nurture us." This idea of indigo children reeks of similar intent on a subtle level, and that is why I am uncomfortable with the idea.

Anyone's entitled to their beliefs, of course. But if it smells like shite, it's probably shite. While somewhat more convincing than the 'charged water' karma-busting computer treatments that were peddled via the New Thought circuit a few years ago, this makes it all the more important to stop this meme and get on to something with some depth and intelligence.

posted by novachild @ Sunday, January 30, 2005,

8 Comments:

At 6:03 PM, Anonymous said...: the wonderful thing is, that we have the freedom to watch and produce anything we want. So, watch whatever you like, take what you want out of it and leave what you don't want.
At 6:03 PM, Anonymous said...: This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
At 12:00 AM, novachild said...: I agree. It can be wonderful, but it can also be dangerous. But in the end, people will make up their own minds, which is exactly what I have done.

I agree that it's great being able to create things one hopes to be proud of. It's also great being able to have the freedom to express oneself (even anonymously). It's sometimes helpful to point out the things that could be improved (apparently a trait of Indigo Children), and the things that just feel wrong. It's also good to praise the things that are right and true, which sadly are qualities I felt this movie lacked.

> So, watch whatever you like,
> take what you want out of it and
> leave what you don't want.

Which is exactly what I have done.

My journal is for me to express my feelings and track my thoughts and daily hang-ups. It isn't a news source, and I don't pretend to be all-knowing, perfect, wise or an authority on anything at all.

Thanks for the post, though I'm not really sure what your intent was.
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At 1:01 AM, Truthhawk said...: I am glae to slam this, I got it on Netflix and don't bother. This was probably the worst of the worst movies ever produced. I say this being a tremendous admrirer of Neale and hearing him speak live in Pasedena. He is great and his books are. He NEVER should have been in this and I am appaled that it was so terrible. The point was well taken in about five minutes. The story was super lame and it might have been done without the script in an unscripted form. More like a documentary. the many many shots of the clouds over the mountains and the horrible music track added to this banality. I loved the subject matter though. I was dissapointed with the crew and the cast I can save the little girl and the Indigo boy's mom, she was a pro. My god, where is the force when you need it. I am sure I would love to think that the same maker of the Brilliant WHAT DREAMS MAY COME could have pulled off this horrible piece of nonsense. I am glad I am not a part of this planet. I have an Indigo child and I get the point but man, I am still pissed.
At 5:31 PM, phishna said...: I have to agree with your analysis that the concept of Indigo children is actually a new cultural meme. I also liked Neale Walsch's CWG books but he's terrible in this lame movie. Self proclaimed ‘Emissary of Light’ Twyman no doubt convinced him to take part in the project. (Ha, ha, ha)

America is the land of overly coddled brat children, so I almost laughed out loud about indigo child traits: "They come into the world with a feeling of royalty (and often act like it)." Sure, lazy children act like royalty and order their parents to do everything for them. This is the result of an American cultural standard of putting children on a pedestal. A spiritually advanced person doesn’t put oneself above everyone else.

If evolution of human consciousness is underway, we might expect that the collective super-conscious mind has progressed beyond hierarchal systems of thought, and that spiritually advanced are picking up on this new vibe, including the non indoctrinated children of free minded parents. We have obviously reached a limit that human activity is threatening the planet and the continuation of our specie. The destructiveness of previous cultural paradigms (like capitalism), many are refusing to go along with the old order and new cultural memes are sprouting that will eventually supersede outmoded destructive paradigms of statism, religion, and war.

Those traits of a new being, a new spiritual version of ourselves, that we might label ‘indigo’ is what we all wish to emulate. If the 100th monkey principle is correct, then we might expect that once the supercritical threshold is breached a sudden change in mass consciousness will sweep the planet. All of a sudden everyone will resonate with the indigo vibe.

- Phishna
At 9:59 PM, tabikat said...: Indigos are very much real and here. I and my son are both indigos. I suppose it would be simple to judge a concept before learning much about it, as the extensive ignorance of the subject would leave one with much material with which to criticize the concept. Or, at least it would appear that way at first. However, from the perspective of those with greater knowledge on the subject, not to mention those living it, the depth of ignorance displayed by certain assumptions about indigos only colors you in negative or distasteful tones, and speaks volumes to the definate need for Earth's transformation and the events preceeding this profound change which could be viewed as a sort of global cleansing away of all the spiritually young, thus mortally foolish humans. We haven't come to save anyone from anything. Merely to usher in the beginning of the end of a long needed rebirth of a planet clearly in dire need of better company.

Being indigo has NOTHING to do with separation. In fact, it is the opposite we wish to accomplish, which is to show others that which EVERYONE is perfectly capable of anytime they truly chose to. This planet is changing vibration or frequency and its inhabitants will be doing the same with the help of the indigos, crystal kids and rainbows (rainbows are barely emerging right now, they are basically avatars, or beings of the highest resonance.... all quantum physics stuff which coincidentally helps to explain the science of this phenomenon) who are "older souls" that have chosen (before being born into this world) to all come together and assist in the inevitable coming events. Unfortunately, the perspective of this world being what it is, the only way for most here to relate to anything is to set it apart from something else, as opposed to seeing such things as pieces of themselves in actuality.

As for Neale, I haven't seen the movie (though now I certainly don't see me doing so even if given the opportunity) has 3 books which are simply brilliant and that clarify the actual being-ness of All things - Conversations with God (Books l, ll and lll).
There are so many aspects to what is happening to this earth (and the mass wave of consciousness IS happening, its merely begun with us indigos) and its people that when people decide to be attune to its changes then it becomes impossible to deny the signs everywhere around them....