This idea has been on my mind for a long time, and every time I do go on a psychedelic journey on a festival in summer I marvel at how engaging, mysterious and meaningful my experiences are, how inspiring and transformative. Especially when compared to watching a movie where "communication" is a rigid one-way street. Like in school.
An experience of interactivity
Depending on set and setting a psychedelic journey can be quite the movie of a lifetime. You see things you have never seen before without the help of a "special effects department" but they are tangible, interactive and related to your inner world. You suddenly feel things you could normally never place any kind of credence on because the mind filters them out for their assumed "irrelevance" to your situation. And you encounter people and their way of interacting with you that can transform your whole attitude to life, society and yourself in a matter of hours, looking at your own dirty laundry, working with others to overcome mindfucks and hangups, and finding a way to better relate to your human role in the grand scheme of things.
In a way, a psychedelic experience has incredibly much to do with you. Every trip is different than the last, even when undertaken by the same individual, and your inner state, your current aspirations, sorrows, attitudes and dreams all factor in to shape your experience and the interaction you will have with other people "on antennas".
And this is where a movie differs the most, it usually always has very little to do with you, and what's going on inside of yourself.
Entertaining... what exactly?
Sure, you may absolutely be in love with movies that deliver a great thrill, a collection of moments where you forget that youa re watching a movie, and where you purposefully scare yourself to feel excitement. To be entertained. And while there certainly are good movies that do this, I claim that the right trip at the right location will be a thousand times more scary, engaging and entertaining - with the difference that the things that will scare you are things you have somehow put in the naughty corner of your mind. The place where shame, guilt, fear and worry are at home.
Psychedelic trips of the right dosage can bring you miles closer to your inner world, they can show you where you have some inner work to do to let go of attachments and resistance, and their transformative effects will last for weeks, months or even years after the experience has come and gone.
Sure, some of the best movies and series may have had you wonder about life, about the topic explored or about its implications, but if we are honest about it: most movie productions of recent years had me thinking about the content for about a minute or two before I moved on.
No substitute
People we don't know are selling us a packaged deal of artificial worldviews as part of an agenda. Why artificial? Because science-fiction is not a reality yet? Because Jack the Ripper has long been dead?
No, I say "artificial" because the concepts most tv and film productions engulf and spew in our faces have been handpicked by writers we don't know and can't communicate with. What's worse, when they spit in our face by insulting us for our differences, our worldview or our attitudes there is no matter of recourse, except for leaving the theater we already rented a seat in for the next two hours.
The premise of the movie might be awesome, we may like the actors' devotion to their roles and we may even love a few scenes in there that have never been done. But with that we are forced to swallow all their BS that slowly sinks in to our subconscious mind whether we agree with it or not.
A psychedelic trip is different.
On a psychedelic trip among other people on psychedelics there is no one-way communication. And if there ever is nobody is forcing you to stay or to partake. In fact it's quite the opposite: Often the most intimate, scary or challenging experiences on a trip with other people can be the greatest teacher for realizing what the issue was, what it had to with us and what aspect in us got triggered by it. How we chose to react, what we made out of it and what the odd situation reveals about our inner space.
Watching a movie, advertisement or series on the other hand may give us tiny bits of transformative information, embedded in a microcosm of the unrecognized regular cultural baggage, assumptions and worldviews that we may have long looked past.
It's like being able to read and yet consciously choosing to read a first-grader book because there might be some nice picture in there.
It's like seeing a documentary about hitchhiking vs. actually hitchhiking. The quality of immediate interactive experience has no substitute.
Quality of experience
The discrepancy in the quality of experience is so vastly different that I am amazed how successful movies still are today despite the worn-out cliches, unimaginative storylines and the same old garbage concepts the directors and producers are forcing on their audience.
We may also want to think about how our voluntary monetary support keeps these poisonous worldview agencies (film studios) alive and in business. I have a strong suspicion that Hollywood would be subsidized by the government til the very last day possible (for its unparalleled significance in shaping the minds of the masses).
The greatest movies I have had have been so impactful, trandromative, life-affirming and revealing - and they have not been running on screen. But partly inside of myself and partly "outside" of myself when I met the teachers and situations I needed, and saw the marvellous things I have with my own eyes in actuality and context, instead of looking at a screen with a hundred other people in silence where we endure an onslaught of political correctness, racism towards our own heritage and the insults against our personal attitudes to society, just to find out whether the superhero can defeat the villain.
I say, if you know what you are doing, or have a friend that can guide you into the realm of psychedelic experiences carefully and with wisdom, watching a movie will never sound as great again as it did when we were 8. The movie of life is just so incredibly engaging and unique to every single individual looking at it thatit might soon become humanity's favorite movie. Specifically for its charming way of relating to everyone, regardless of predisposition, attitude or outlook on life.
And here's another thing:.The movie of life... also includes all movies ever made ;)
The actual "neverending story" that includes all others ever told.
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Why all the conflict? Movies are great on psychedelics lol.
I like this way of framing things. I think that for the people who have never taken the drugs, they might expect a movie-like experience. That is, they expect to watch the trip happen rather than to be a part of it so I think the way you put things here is helpful.
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