Review of The Secret

The Secret (2006 Video)
7/10
the nay-sayers aren't wrong, but they aren't right either - movie is a good start, worth seeing, but not the whole story
18 December 2006
I'm glad I saw the movie *before* I read all these comments.

I greatly appreciate the words of GreySphinx, japonaliya, alunde-1, robschmidt, and the like. I have read comments of the "haters" very closely, and their tone is so acerbic that leads me to ask them the following: who hurt you? The irony is that I don't have a problem with what they said, it doesn't bother me they reject the message of the movie - however, I do believe their critical words make the best case for the premise of the movie.

I consider myself an intelligent man with better than average critical thinking skills (and I know my employer does as well); and I do not believe that this movie insulted my intelligence. But if you believe that this movie was suppose to tell you *everything* you need to know about how to transform their life in 90 minutes, then I completely understand the source of your upset. But consider the following: this movie is only the "tip of the iceberg" (I intentionally chose that that metaphor because the tip of the iceberg only shows one about 10% of itself above the surface – I'll leave it to you to figure out how much of this philosophy is left for the interested party to discover ;-) ). Hence I respectfully disagree with vuduzombie – I believe one of the points of this movie is to inspire intellectual evolution.

I also respectfully disagree with OnlyPassingBy's assessment that this movie promotes "victim-blaming." I believe it's quite the opposite. I believe that the movie is asking the viewer to consider the radical concept that one is 100% responsible for anything that happens in their life. So if we are 100% responsible, then by definition we cannot blame anyone else. And from there we have the opportunity to realize that we are solely responsible to change whatever it is we want, if for no other reason than the fact that we are not wasting any of our precious time/energy/effort blaming someone else, not even 1%. (Even though I wholly believe in the principle of "100% responsibility," I wish I could say that I were talented enough to accomplish it all the time, but I do stumble and find myself "partially" blaming someone else. At least now I realize when I'm stumbling and that gives me the opportunity to right myself.)

What I find interested about hazzard_hotel's beer-theory is that he is so close to "getting" the Law of Attraction. Unfortunately I believe he is confusing the Law of Attraction with the Magic of Manifestation. Consider that the point of the Law of Attraction is that before you can have something, you must want it first. So yes, if you want a cold beer, you "imagine" having a cold beer (and where does one "imagine" but in their mind). And then you do what it takes to get yourself a cold beer – go to a bar, go the fridge, go to the store, whatever it takes (even asking someone to get it for you)…and voilà, you've got yourself the cold beer that you wanted – in other words, "thoughts become things." And yes, if you have ever listened to Bill Gates talk about his life before Microsoft, he has said "I imagined myself being rich." But then he follows up with "And this is what I did to make that happen." (Consider that JFK's "positive thinking" in fact did put a rocket on the moon and that this weekend there are 32 men, who as boys, imagined themselves as NFL starting quarterbacks. Of course there was a lot of hard work between the initial desire and the final achievement.)

So I get how to some this movie can be seen as a tease. The movie does not tell you in precise words that the road to what you imagine is paved with action. Ultimately it's up to you to do and realize the remaining 90% of the iceberg…but that's just "common sense," right? Actually, no, this level of sense is not common – if it were, then Dr.Phil would be out of a job. Even the smartest of us need help and occasional reminders (especially me).

I believe this movie is intended to be provocative, and the "haters" demonstrate that the movie meets its intent. If one thinks that this movie will be a one shot panacea, then you're in for a big disappointment. But if one is ready to do the rigorous work and take personal responsibility to do what it takes to transform their lives, then by all means see this movie.
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