What the Bleep Do We Know!
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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What the Bleep Do We Know!? (stylized as What tнē #$*! D̄ө ωΣ (k)πow!? and What the #$*! Do We Know!?) is a 2004 film that combines documentary-style interviews, computer-animated graphics, and a narrative that posits a spiritual connection between quantum physics and consciousness. The plot follows the fictional story of a photographer as she encounters emotional and existential obstacles in her life and begins to consider the idea that individual and group consciousness can influence the material world. Her experiences are offered by the filmmakers to illustrate the movie's thesis about quantum physics and consciousness. The 2004 theatrical release of the film was followed by a substantially changed, extended DVD version in 2006.
Bleep was conceived and its production funded by William Arntz, who co-directed the film along with Betsy Chasse and Mark Vicente; all three were students of Ramtha's School of Enlightenment. A moderately low-budget independent film, it was promoted using viral marketing methods and opened in art-house theaters in the western United States, winning several independent film awards before being picked up by a major distributor and eventually grossing over $10 million.
The film has been described as an example of quantum mysticism, and has been criticized for both misrepresenting science and containing pseudoscience. While many of its interviewees and subjects are professional scientists in the fields of physics, chemistry, and engineering, several have noted that the film quotes them out of context.
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Synopsis
Filmed in Portland, Oregon, What the Bleep Do We Know!? presents a viewpoint of the physical universe and human life within it, with connections to neuroscience and quantum physics. Some ideas discussed in the film are:
- That the universe is best seen as constructed from thoughts and ideas rather than from matter.
- That "empty space" is not empty.
- That matter is not solid, and electrons are able to pop in and out of existence without it being known where they disappear to.
- That beliefs about who one is and what is real are a direct cause of oneself and of one's own realities.
- That peptides produced by the brain can cause a bodily reaction to emotion.
In the narrative segments of the movie, Marlee Matlin portrays Amanda, a photographer who plays the role of everywoman as she experiences her life from startlingly new and different perspectives.
In the documentary segments of the film, interviewees discuss the roots and meaning of Amanda's experiences. The comments focus primarily on a single theme: "We create our own reality." The director, William Arntz, has described What the Bleep as a movie for the "metaphysical left".
Cast
- Marlee Matlin as Amanda
- Elaine Hendrix as Jennifer
- Barry Newman as Frank
- Robert Bailey, Jr. as Reggie
- John Ross Bowie as Elliot
- Armin Shimerman as Man
- Robert Blanche as Bob
- Larry Brandenburg as Bruno
- Patti B. Collins as Mother of the Bride
Featured individuals
The film features several interviewees for the documentary portion, including:
- Dean Radin, Senior Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) in Petaluma, California and proponent of paranormal phenomena.
- John Hagelin of Maharishi University of Management, director of MUM's Institute for Science, Technology, and Public Policy, and three-time presidential candidate of the Transcendental Meditation-linked Natural Law Party.
- Stuart Hameroff, an anesthesiologist, author, and associate director of the Center for Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona, who worked with Roger Penrose on a speculative quantum theory of consciousness.
- JZ Knight, a spiritual teacher who is also identified in the narrative portions as the spirit "Ramtha" that Knight is allegedly channelling.
- Andrew B. Newberg, assistant professor of radiology at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital, and physician in nuclear medicine, who coauthored the book, Why God Won't Go Away: Brain Science & the Biology of Belief (ISBN 0-345-44034-X),
- Candace Pert, a neuroscientist, who discovered the cellular bonding site for endorphins in the brain, and in 1997 wrote the book Molecules of Emotion (ISBN 0684831872)
- Fred Alan Wolf, an independent physicist, who recently wrote The Yoga of Time Travel: How the Mind Can Defeat Time, and is featured in the documentary film Spirit Space. Dr. Wolf has taught at San Diego State University, the University of Paris, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of London, and Birkbeck College, London.
- David Albert, a philosopher of physics and professor at Columbia University, who according to a Popular Science article is "outraged at the final product" because the filmmakers interviewed him about quantum mechanics unrelated to consciousness or spirituality but then edited the material in such a way that he feels misrepresented his views.
- Micheál Ledwith, author and former professor of theology at St. Patrick's College, Maynooth;
- Daniel Monti, physician and director of the Mind-Body Medicine Program at Thomas Jefferson University;
- Jeffrey Satinover, psychiatrist, author and professor;
- William Tiller, Professor Emeritus of Material Science and Engineering at Stanford University;
- Joe Dispenza (Dr.?), chiropractor, former longtime staff member at J Z Knight's Ramtha School of Enlightenment, reputed neuroscientist (credentials?), contemporary New Age personality
See also
