Title: Sound of My Voice (2012)
Director: Zal Batmanglij
Cast: Brit Marling, Christopher Denham, Nicole Vicius
Religion is a mental state that one reaches when one searches
for the meaning of life; when one searches for the answers to all those
unanswerable questions. The universe we live in is so vast and complex that by
nature it is filled with many of these unanswerable questions. We being
the thinking creatures we are find it difficult to believe that some questions out
there simply have no answers. We like to know where we stand. Let’s face it, we
want to know it all. Sadly, the truth is we simply do not know the
answers to everything. This ‘not knowing’ creates a void that some cannot stand; so in order to continue, society created fake answers to these unanswerable questions. They do put the mind at ease, after all, existentialism can be
harsh on the human mind! These fake
answers are what we call religion. You can choose to believe in them, or not.
Sad part is that there are certain fruit cakes out there
that know how religion works and how to take advantage of others by using it. These
low lives thrive in taking advantage of peoples needs for answers, peoples need
for purpose. They’ll tell you what you want to hear, they’ll make up a
fantastical tale that will consume your soul, and since you need that void
filled, you completely fall for it, hook, line and sinker. The depths to which
you’ll sink is entirely up to you, and a lot will depend on your mental
strength, if you are easily led astray you could fall for these teachings. This
is why I am a supporter of the analytical and inquisitive mind. I am of the
idea that we should never accept things they way they are given to us, that we must
always analyze what we are presented with, in my mind I think we should always
question. Nothing is too sacred to question it. If you cannot question it, then
something is definitely wrong. Blind acceptance is NEVER a good thing. This is
one of the themes that Sound of My Voice explores, the idea that we should
never believe blindly in anything.
There’s always those of us out there that understand and see
religion for what it is. In a way, it is a basic human need. The need to assign
authorship of the universe, of the world we live in, of life…to something, to
someone. This is an idea that has been explored in a lot of films, most
recently in Ridley Scott’s Prometheus (2012). Logic tells us that there has to
be something bigger, that everything we know must have come from somewhere. Someone
must have decided that trees would clean oxygen for us, that we should have sun
during the day and moonlight during night. Someone must have come up with the
idea that we’d need water to drink; food to eat, it seems that the planet was
perfectly made to sustain us…logic tells us that everything is too perfectly
set in the world for us not to believe in something. But it’s like I always say,
just because we don’t know how everything came to be, does not mean we have to
make answers up. The real answer still lies out there, just beyond our reach. We
can create different hypotheses for the origins of life, but the truth is we
just don’t know. Until we find out; until we truly know, I think it’s safe to
say, we should just accept the mystery of it all, embrace it.
Sound of My Voice analyzes how religion asks you to believe,
blindly, without a strand of proof on things that make no sense whatsoever. This
is otherwise known as faith; which is why I never really separate cults from
any old religion, to me they are one and the same. Cult is just another word
for religion. A cult is a religion, a religion is a cult. What is supposed to differentiate
cults from old religions is that they incur in practices that are strange or
bizarre. To be honest, all forms of religion have a strange or bizarre element
to them. Mormons have to wear a special kind of underwear to have sex for Christ
sake! What about talking in tongues, is that not strange and bizarre? Religions,
cults, or whatever you want to call them are simply a way of thinking and
living that they want you to accept. How similar are cults and age old
religions? They don’t want you to question, they don’t want you to analyze,
they simply want you to cleanse your mind from all critical thought. What they
want is for you to hand your mind (and money) over to them. In Sound of My
Voice, the cult leader is this woman known as Maggie, who says she is from the
year 2054, and that all sorts of bad things are awaiting humanity in the
future. If you follow her, she will lead you to salvation from the coming
apocalypse. She’s got secrets from the future which will help her lead you to
safety, typical cult leader behavior. She lives in a basement, breathes out of
an oxygen thank and she’s amassing followers, which confirms the fact that
anyone can come up with the lamest idea and surely enough, someone will believe
it and follow.
The way the film is structured, it’s got great suspense to
it. The two filmmakers who want to make a documentary about Maggie’s cult in
order to expose them, seem naïve enough; we feel
like they are actually putting themselves in peril for their film. Their idea
is to infiltrate the cult and film some of the cults secret activities. That’s
another thing about cults, they don’t like for people to know what’s going on
within their gatherings. This is so because they know that their activities would
be labeled as crazy by the rest of the world. But that’s what Sound of My Voice
does; it takes us right in there, right in the middle of this crazy cult that
worships this woman from the future. I enjoyed how the film analyzes some of
the crazy behavior that goes on within certain religions, like say for example
this whole ‘speaking in tongues’ thing that we find in some Christian sects is
so totally nuts! It’s like letting your brain just totally go and handing it
over to somebody else. The whole idea of trying to get people to be ‘perfect’
which of course is something impossible to achieve, because life isn’t perfect.
It’s made up of one misstep after another; the idea that religious leaders lie to
their flock and that if you ask enough questions, said lies will surface clear
as water. Loved how the film touches upon these themes.
The only real problem for me with this movie was Brit
Marling, the actress who plays the religious leader. You get the feeling that
had the role been played by a more experienced actress, it might have worked
better. Her performance, in my book, was not the best thing about the film. Also,
the ending kind of leaves you hanging, you left wanting a bigger revelation. But
keeping things simply is understandable when we take in consideration that this
film was made with very little money. Most of the film takes place entirely in one room! But here’s the thing, the screenplay is
so interesting, and the Maggie character gets freakier and freakier as time
passes by, that I let that go and just went with the flow; which of course says
good things about the writing for this film, which by the way was done by Brit
Marling herself, along with the films director, Zal Batmanglij. So in many
ways, what we have here is a religion bashing film that at the same time isn’t.
The same thing happens with Prometheus for example or The Last Exorcism (2010).
These are films that portray Christianity as being false, yet at the same time
they don’t entirely bash it. They kind of play it safe that way by validating
both schools of thought, keeping both the believers and the unbelievers happy.
I suspect this is merely done to avoid getting boycotted or blacklisted by
believers, but in the end, what this kind of film really wants to do is make
the believers question their believes, expose them to the possibility that what
they’ve been taught their whole lives has always been one big fat fairy tale.
Rating: 3 ½ out of 5
6 comments:
Sounds interesting enough. Where can I check it out? Is it available via VOD services or Netflix?
I don't know, I saw it last week at my local art house theater, so I'm thinking it's making the rounds around the world and will be available shortly on dvd. Gotta keep an eye out for it.
Needs a part two. Nothing ever happens! Without a part two this movie sucks.
Nothing ever happens? Really? I thought the film said what it had to say, true the story can be continued, but the message the filmmakers were trying to put across shines through, a lot happens in this movie.
Its true two people can witness the same event and come out with two very different versions.
I wont say you are 'all' wrong or completely shallow as some reveal themselves to be but I do think your concept of religion is revealed in your opinions.
Like you I do not like these organized business religions and the followers who blindly accept whatever their 'great' leader says without questioning. I find it tragic that the members aren't allowed to question BUT the truth is ...we cant blame the leader - its the individuals laziness that is most disturbing.
Your tirade suggests you are NO different - because while they discourage their members from questioning - you follow the same path by suggesting the stupidity of seeking MORE ... Either way both you and them aren't questioning -or seeking -beyond what you can physically accept which produces a very unhappy, shallow existence.
You think those who join cults/religions are ignorant slaves? Everyone has a Master they serve - whether it be a minister, employer, or even their own flesh.
Who are you following? Do you work for approval? Money? Insecurity? Fears?
Questioning is what this movie is about and if you dont question everything in life -you will never know the truth.
I think I mention it in my review, nothing is too sacred to be questioned. You think knowing more is stupid? Quest for knowledge is never ending in my opinion, it helps us grow, it doesn't make our lives shallow, at least not in my opinion.
Who do I follow? I go where my mind takes me, my feet go where I want them to go.
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