"Insidious": Worst portrayal of AP *ever* *SPOILERS*

[Pharoah]

SPOILER ALERT:  If you have not watched the movie Insidious and don't want the plot spoiled for you, stop reading!

So last night I watched the movie Insidious.  It started off great!  I was all like "Woah, man this is creepy, I like it!"

Then this like mystic lady comes over and tells the parents of the main character boy that he is in fact not in a coma, but is stuck in an OBE.  She goes on to explain that he is a very gifted APer and has been projecting and "traveling" all his life.

So at this point I start to think "If he's so gifted, can he not just *think* his way back?"

Anyway, she continues to explain that the astral realm is just chock full of evil entities, and that one of these evil entities is keeping the boy away from his body, in an area she calls "The Further" (lol), because the longer he stays projected, the closer the evil entity gets to being able to take over his body.

I started to get angry.  Evil entities can't keep you "away" from your body!  You NEVER LEAVE IT!  Astral projection is not a trip through 3 dimensional space during which you travel long distances away from your physical body, it's just a shift in awareness!  Your AWARENESS can go anywhere, but it's not actually LEAVING anything!

So I was like "Man this is why ignorant people look at APers like we're some kind of cult of devil worshippers or something."

Later in the movie, the mystic lady and the main character boy's father's mother (confusing) reveal to the boy's father that HE used to have the same problem too when he was a kid.  He was such a gifted projector that he too had some evil entity trying to take over his body. "But we suppressed your abilities and hid it from you so you would be safe!"  Then, not 5 minutes later they are all like "Now you have to AP to go save your son!"  

Ok, the man is like 40-something and his abilities to project have been suppressed since he was like 8, you can't honestly expect him to just project as if by will can you?  

YOU CAN!  CAUSE HE DOES!  /facepalm

Then he goes to the "astral realm" which I concluded must have been the RTZ because the only difference between the physical realm and this astral realm was the greenish haze and overt fogginess.  So dude is running around in the astral looking for his son by PHYSICAL MEANS, i.e. walking around, screaming and looking with his physical eyes.  To further accentuate the use of his physical eyes in the astral realm, he carries a LANTERN.  

Then he finds his son chained in a dungeon where he breaks the shackles with his bare hands (the son couldn't do that?) and he CARRIES his son (more with the physical tendencies) back out to their house.  Because in this movie, you actually have to plant your astral body back into your physical body in order to re-enter.  Then somehow, while dude and his son were out and about, evil astral entities somehow BECAME PHYSICAL and were in the physical realm crawling and drooling after the other people in the house!

So if you're ready for a very cheesy/corny/campy/borderline offensive/b-movie take on AP, treat yourself to Insidious.

Just adding some emphasis to the Spoiler part.  LOL  ~Xanth

[Summerlander]

I just watched it like five minutes ago! LOL!

It's a good horror film but it's just a film. You can project as much as you want in the comfort of knowing that nothing will try to possess your body while you are out. I like the fact that the dad projects to rescue his son but then he gets stuck in that dark realm and the old hag possesses his body!

Anyway, she continues to explain that the astral realm is just chock full of evil entities, and that one of these evil entities is keeping the boy away from his body, in an area she calls "The Further" (lol), because the longer he stays projected, the closer the evil entity gets to being able to take over his body.

Well, she said the boy went too far, to a dark dimension where tortured souls dwell. It's interesting that when the father went looking for him, he saw this girl murdering her parents...cool!

But my favourite bit was when the sceptical father was watching his son's drawings on the wall. I loved the one that showed him asleep in bed and it said "this is me watching myself asleep" and to the one where he's got a red cape and flying away from the house..."this is me flying away" - brilliant.

I started to get angry.  Evil entities can't keep you "away" from your body!  You NEVER LEAVE IT!  Astral projection is not a trip through 3 dimensional space during which you travel long distances away from your physical body, it's just a shift in awareness!  Your AWARENESS can go anywhere, but it's not actually LEAVING anything!

LOL! Don't be angry. It's only a film. It was made to scare or have some sort of impact on people. But I still prefer Nightmare in Elm Street

So I was like "Man this is why ignorant people look at APers like we're some kind of cult of devil worshippers or something."

It's ignorance, yep! Anyone who takes a horror film like that to show what actually happens is very much deluded.

Later in the movie, the mystic lady and the main character boy's father's mother (confusing) reveal to the boy's father that HE used to have the same problem too when he was a kid.  He was such a gifted projector that he too had some evil entity trying to take over his body. "But we suppressed your abilities and hid it from you so you would be safe!"  Then, not 5 minutes later they are all like "Now you have to AP to go save your son!"

What made my blood boil was when he later says he wishes he'd forget his "gift" again.

Then he goes to the "astral realm" which I concluded must have been the RTZ because the only difference between the physical realm and this astral realm was the greenish haze and overt fogginess.  So dude is running around in the astral looking for his son by PHYSICAL MEANS, i.e. walking around, screaming and looking with his physical eyes.  To further accentuate the use of his physical eyes in the astral realm, he carries a LANTERN. 

And then he has the audicity to say to his shackled son that none of that is real!

he breaks the shackles with his bare hands (the son couldn't do that?)

Maybe the son wasn't confident enough.

Then he finds his son chained in a dungeon where he breaks the shackles with his bare hands (the son couldn't do that?) and he CARRIES his son (more with the physical tendencies) back out to their house.

And he gets tired and has to let his son go ahead of him.

Well, even so, there were scary moments and it's worth a watch!

[kelsie900]

omg i watched that last week! i had no idea what it was about when my friend stuck it on. Thank God AP isn't like that for real :S that hag lady was creepy. 

[Jarrod]

Another movie that just isn't accurate at all is Inception.  It's fun to watch but it probably gives people the wrong idea.

[Volgerle]

That's the problem with everything metaphysical. It is (with some notable exceptions) always portrayed as 100% evil and/or highly dangerous in fiction, such as Hollywood or any other horror (A,B,C..) movies.
This makes it so easy for materialism to survive in our society. People watching those movies or tv shows (and who of the young ones doesn't?) only see this one-sided portrayal and (of course!) don't want it to be 'real' but just pure fantasy and entertainment. They never get the idea that the meta-/non-physical is real and 'experience-able' indeed - but not as unilaterally dark and evil as it is painted in these (mostly dull) films contrived by the scriptwriters (who, I guess, have not the slightest clue about nonphysical / larger reality at all).

[Pharoah]

Yeah, the whole trick to Hollywood is taking something that 99% of the population knows nothing about and twisting it beyond recognition for saleability.

Too bad the victim was AP/OBEs this time

[personalreality]

would you really want to watch a legit explanation of AP?

overly dramatized, hyperbole infused stories make better movies.

if anyone takes a story from a movie to reflect reality, they are just stupid.

[Pharoah]

would you really want to watch a legit explanation of AP?

I would LOVE to watch a movie with accurate portrayals of genuine astral experiences.  I started thinking entirely too hard about making an independent film about AP like 3 weeks ago actually.

[Jilt]

Best movie on lucid dreaming/AP is "Waking Life" just because it's a great movie.

Tangentially related: "The Matrix" and "Source Code."

Even though "Inception" isn't accurate, I've been having more OBEs from the normal dream state lately (doing the rope technique while in a normal dream so to become lucid and go to another level). I used to only have WILDs so this is new for me. I'll occasionally have 3 levels so there is something valid to phases of dreamstates that "Inception" touches upon.

[Summerlander]

Waking Life was brilliant. I love that movie!

[Pharoah]

Wow, Waking Life looks cool.  I'm gonna totally watch it!  Thanks for the tip

[Summerlander]

You won't be disappointed. It's one of the richest animations I've seen. It's very interesting too.

[toba122]

I saw this movie and was completely outraged at that part too! People who don't know anything about astral projection and saw that movie will now just think it's a joke. I blame Hollywood

[XNomadX]

There's also another movie called "The Scientist".  It's boring as hell, but if you're a fan of quantum physics and parallel realities you might find it interesting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMSxeVqUDB4

[Lexy]

I just said this in another thread but the movie "what dreams may come"


other movies that remind me of astral projection:

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
MirrorMask

[XNomadX]

I just said this in another thread but the movie "what dreams may come"

Ha! That's a good movie.  Although, if I was the protagonist, I would've just stayed in the astral/non-physical/metaphysical. No reincarnation for me, if it was true of course.  I'll make sure to check those other movies out.