Author and film researcher Robert W. Sullivan joined guest host Richard Syrett (Twitter) to delve into occult symbolism in popular Hollywood movies. A subset of these films feature what Sullivan called alchemical symbolism. The 007 feature Goldfinger deals with the transformation of actual gold, but usually these kind of movies feature a character going through a transition, he revealed. They start as one thing and by the end of the story are completely different, Sullivan explained, noting Stanley Kubrick's The Shining and Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan as examples. He pointed out four symbolic color stages in alchemical movies: black, white, yellow, and red.
"Some of the most popular movies are Gnostic," Sullivan continued. Gnostic films (made between 1997-2001) are characterized by false realities, expanding consciousness, and characters manipulated by a puppet master, he added, enumerating examples including The Matrix, Dark City, Fight Club, The Truman Show, Donny Darko, Existenz, and Vanilla Sky. "Directors who really know what they're doing... go to great lengths to implant this material in cinema," he suggested. According to Sullivan, there are also examples of occult subtext appearing in movies by circumstance. He believes the mechanism by which this happens is Carl Jung's theory of collective unconsciousness and the archetypal imagery and themes we all share in common.
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Open Lines followed in the latter half of the program. Cindy in Massachusetts talked about unwanted visitors entering her apartment through the wall. "I've been experiencing a lot of supernatural experiences where [beings] tend to communicate with me and I don't know how to handle it," she said. According to Cindy, the beings are dark like shadows and have no color to them. They wish to corrupt her and break her down, she admitted. "Maybe I need to pray a little more," Cindy wondered.
Steve from California told Richard about how Ron Howard's Apollo 13 changed his life. "It completely transformed my life... it was a spiritual thing," he said. Steve credited the movie with motivating him to fund raise and commission a monument to Apollo 11 at Kennedy Space Center. The experience allowed him to work with Apollo 11 astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins. Steve also raised money to build a monument to Apollo 13 at Houston Space Flight Center.
Al in Arizona recommended a book, About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior, by retired Col. David H. Hackworth. "When he retired he was the most decorated living soldier in America out of all of the militaries," Al reported, noting Hackworth received 125 medals and decorations. According to Al, Hackworth knew the truth about Vietnam, and reported on the United States' doomed war effort there.
News segment guest: Tim Binnall