Disclosure Day

 

Disclosure Day is going to win some awards I don't feel like it deserves. Don't get me wrong, it has a fantastic cast with some incredible performances. I'm just not sure what I'm supposed to get from the film? What theme or lesson is there to be learned? Was it faith vs. science vs. man or some other combination? I don't doubt that someone smarter than me will better unpack the contents of this film. I can't wait to see other perceptions of the film in order to better understand it. 

I was struggling to understand the conflict presented to the viewers. It should be straight forward. The world is collapsing in on itself with war and rationing. Some secret government overlord doesn't want information that they've been hiding to get out as public knowledge. I got all that, but once we realize they just don't want the public to know that aliens exist? I got lost. Who cares? 

Knowing that aliens are real and that they think empathy will save the human race doesn't help anyone. That knowledge won't suddenly end the war. It won't replace the gas people are lining up to get. It won't return any of the lives lost. It won't suddenly end people making money off of using alien tech to create weapons. Sharing the gift of empathy with 1 person won't result in the human race changing in an instant. 

Some characters began to view the aliens as Gods. Again, who cares? They couldn't hold their own against humanity, but you think they're above us? You think they will save you? Better yet, if you believe they're God, why aren't you fucking angry? I understand everyone needs something to believe in. Having faith and community can bring peace to oneself. I respect that. I don't respect you looking at a terrified young woman and calling her God. She was just a messenger; she wasn't even a messenger for a God. She's a messenger for another life form. A lifeform that is consistently dehumanized throughout the film. Dehumanized even by people that pretend to care about the message they're attempting to share. 

Not once are the other lifeforms given a name. They are literally referred to as things. We even get to meet one and he also has no name! It's like Victor Frankenstein's monster all over again! Of course, this time there are no daddy issues at play, at least not from the alien. 

Why was the secret so important? I get that the secret isn't really aliens, they're just a metaphorical placeholder for empathy. The secret to world peace is empathy. That still doesn't help make the plot make sense. We never see who benefits from the secret being kept. That is what makes the whole thing fall apart. We never see who truly benefits so why is it a conflict at all? 

I think I'm mostly bitter about this movie because I'm all grown up now. If this had come out when I was a kid, I would've been geeked. Now though? I really don't care. Did we not all learn aliens were real a few months ago? We still have to go to work; we still have to pay rent. We still have bills to pay, that doesn't change. War didn't end; genocides didn't stop. The existence of aliens didn't change anything in the real world so why should it in a fictional one?