Spreads, rather than dispels ignorance around DMT

collins-803

This documentary is yet again another example why one of the biggest obstacles to dispelling societal ignorance around psychotropics is often the users themselves. If you're looking for scientific explanations around the properties, effects, and potential side-effects around DMT, look no further. Instead you'll discover the film begins to devolve into various sweeping statements ranging from the pseudo-scientific to the completely unscientific ramblings of mystics.

The film begins to explore the idea that we can use psychotropics --DMT in particular-- for the sake of exploring and discovering aspects of reality that might not be available to us in ordinary perception. Fair enough, as long as we keep in mind what we're "discovering" are interesting chemically induced perceptions, and not, as many of the film's most wildly metaphysical poetic-waxing statements claim, real parts of the universe "out there" that are hidden from us with the "ball and chain" of reason and scientific confirmation.

The way that it presents these musings is through interviews of various psychologists, "writers", mystics, and "shamans" interspersed between what seems to be winamp animations and art taken from Alex Grey. Sure, okay, it's a film about DMT. But it's hardly inventive compared to the master Gaspar Noe film Enter the Void where the drug is featured heavily.

People's perception of psychotropics is an erasing of reason for New Age tarot-card reading "channeling" of other dimensions by hippies. It's an unfortunate misperception, one that this film surely would confirm even to the open minded. In the end it adds to the list of the pseudo-scientific New Age "what the bleep" nonsense that attempts to pass off as credible. Instead of dispelling the ignorance, it reflects this society's scientific illiteracy in an unfortunate postmodern age where drug induced fast food religious experiences pass as empirical research. But you know, as the postmodernists will tell me, "well, that's like...your opinion...man..."

score 1/10

collins-803 20 October 2012

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2691783/