Synopsis The Fourth Kind Movie and Analysis Relation between Religion/ Supernatural Issue and Culture

The Fourth Kind

THE FOURTH KIND

          The fourth kind is a semi-documentary movies, this movie tells the story of a personal experience of a Psychiatrist named Dr. Abigail "Abbey" Tayler. She lived in a small city in Alaska, Nome. Dr. Abigail Tayler played by Mila Jovovich, and at the beginning of the film Mila said, "I am the actress Milla Jovovich, and I will be portraying Dr. Abigail Tyler. This movie is a dramatization of events that occurred October 2000. Everything in this movie is supported by archive footage. Some of what you are about to see is extremely disturbing”.

            Dr. Abigail Emily Tayler has nickname, she usually called Abbey. She has husband named Will and she has two children. Ronnie Tayler, who blames his mother for the murder of his father. And Ashley Tayler, who had gone blind after her father's death. In the end of this movie, Ashley disappears. Dr. Abigail said that her husband was killed when they were sleeping and Abbey in a conscious state, but Abbey can’t remember who that kills her husband.

Many reports circulating about the cases of people who disappeared under mysterious circumstances in Nome, finally this case that be the basic of story the fourth kind. However, the director connects the disappearance of the mysterious people with abductions occurred by non-human, or alien. The Director also adds the original documentary footage. Even though that this movie is shown to be dramatized and almost close to real story, but is it fiction or real story?

The movie begins with an interview by Chapman University between “the real” of Dr. Abigail with an interviewer, Olatunde Osunsanmi. This interview was taken in 2002, two years after the abductions. Abbey then told about hypnosis session with her colleague who is also a psychologist named Dr. Abel Campos, Abbey wants hypnotized because she wanted to find out about her husband’s killer, Will in August 2000.

            Dr. Abel tries to convince Tyler to take time off so her head can clear, but she insists that she must continue her husband's studies. Abbey begins her studies on the sleep-deprived in his city, Nome. She has three patients, and her patients have all awoken during the night to see an owl watching them outside their windows for hours. And then I knew that the owl is the realization of an alien.

            Both of her patients, Tommy and Scott want Abbey to hypnosis them. Her patient Tommy, she will put him under hypnosis to discover something he couldn't remember from the prior night. Under the hypnosis, Tommy says that he had woken to see the owl at his window yet again the owl just stared at him outside. And suddenly he goes hysteric before Abbey can snap him out from hypnosis.

            In the following night, Abbey was calling by Sheriff August to calm Tommy down, Tommy begins screaming in a language that Abbey can’t understand and demanding that she tell him the meaning of what he is saying. When she can't supply a translation, Tommy shoots his wife, their children, and himself.

            After the Tommy’s tragedy Abbey grabs her tape recorder and makes notes over her patients, she was falling asleep while the recorder was still on. In the morning, Abbey arrives at work, meets with Dr. Abel and hands her tape recorder to her secretary, asking her to transcribe it. Scott, another of Abbey's patients, and Cindy, his wife are waiting. Scott decides to be hypnotized despite the recent tragedy. During the hypnosis session, he begins shaking and gagging, and Abbey has a difficult time snapping him out of the hypnosis.

            Scott and Cindy leave Abbey’s room and Abbey’s secretary tells that she must listen her tape. Abbey and Dr. Abel listening the tape together, after Tyler finishes her notes and falls asleep, mechanical noises are heard followed by terrified, screams coming straight from Abbey and a distorted voice speaking in an unknown language. She can’t remember anything that had happened that night.

Abbey realized that the patient is a victim of an alien abduction, from the hypnotic Abbey discovered his memory that he had been abducted by aliens, and she believed that her husband was killed by Alien.

In the The Fourth Kind movie there are four close encounters that Dr. Abigail Believe:

·         The Fist Kind is when you see a UFO.

·         The Second Kind is when you see evidence of it such as crop circle, radoation.

·         The Third Kind is when you make contact

·         The Fourth Kind, there is nothing frightening than the fourth, you see that one is when they abduct you.

The Analysis about the Relation between Religion, Supernatural Issue and Culture:

Religion : Religion means a cultural system of behaviors and practices, world views, sacred texts, holy places, ethics, and societal organisation. I think in this movie there is no relation with religion, why? Because, it begins when Dr. Abigail’s husband has been killed and she lost her daughter too, she just believes that they abducted and killed by Aliens. In the movie, when Abbey under hypnosis, there is inhuman voice speaking through her begins screaming in Sumerian. Abbey begs them to bring her daughter back, and yet the voice refuses before drops Abbey back on the couch. Previously the inhuman voice was saying “I am . . . God”

The interviewer, Olatunde Osunsanmi asked to Abbey, “Whay do you believe?”, and Abbey answered that it is hard, but she believe the thing she has seen, the presence she has felt inside of hers is beyond anything that people can imagine. It was hopelessness, so it can not be God. But it can pretend to be.

I think there is no relation between religion and this movie, the main character still believe there is God, because she has religion. Although the Alien said that it is God.

I have a religion, but I'm still hesistate of the existence of aliens. Allah created living things, there are many living things that human beings do not know, for aliens was not described in the Qur'an.

Supernatural : The term implies that there is a realm of the world (the natural) and the realm of the super (beyond the natural). Supernatural unable to be explained by science or the laws of nature : of, relating to, or seeming to come from magic, a god, etc. Supernatural is also commonly conceived of as being better, higher, or more pure than the mundane, natural world around us. Based in this movie, I see Dr. Abigail’s patients and Dr.Abigail under hypnosis, they become hysteric and they suddenly flying like they have power to do that. If it is true that they meet alien under hypnosis, may be the power that we see it because alien power. We know alien is a highly intelligent creatures they can control a human mind and use power like telekinesis.

For me, I don’t believe that the scene in this movie because supernatural power. I just believe who have supernatural power is our Prophet. And the relation between religion and supernatural issue are just God only knows. We are only human beings, there are many things in this world that we don’t know, like supernatural. I just believe that I have seen, through it can be explained by science.

Culture : Culture is usually carried by the hereditary successor. And in past times, the technology was not as advanced as now and human knowledge is not as modern as today. But there are still people who believe aliens. Even with advanced technology too, has not been able to show that aliens is a real.

In this movie, inhuman voice is using Sumerian Language. Sumerian is the language of ancient Sumer and a language isolate which was spoken in southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). During the 3rd millennium BC, a very intimate cultural symbiosis developed between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism.

Cultural actors who also introduced the Sumerian language is Dr. Awolowa Odusami. This character is an author but he can using Sumerian language. Indirectly, this movie is raised back the history of the language that is the Sumerian language. He also said in the museum that hold an old Sumerian artifact or something, most of them has a clue about alien existence. Is real or fiction that aliens has come to earth and learned about Sumerian language? I tell again, it could all just stories of ancestors who have told hereditary.

The film’s tagline says, “It’s Up to You to Decide.” And I think, this movie is just Science Fiction.

Nur Elisha
English Literature
Introduction to Cultural Studies