'Science Vs. Religion In The Movie Contact'

In the movie “Contact”, the main character, Ellie, tackles a controversial topic that deals with empiric knowledge versus intuitive knowledge. Throughout the film, Ellie struggles to decipher a code derived from outside of their planet. Along with striving to understand the meaning of the message, she has to consistently face disputing between people of the society. Although the scientific and religious components of this debate can be overwhelming, combining the two elements to work together can ultimately be more beneficial to the project.

Throughout the majority of the film, Ellie displays a powerful belief in science over religion. On the contrary, multiple characters such as Palmer, believe the true answers are derived from faith. Although these two topics are greatly different, they both prove to be best when they work with each other. For instance, as Ellie and Palmer are at the ball, Ellie tells him she could not believe in something without evidence. In reply, Palmer asks if she loved her father. When she says “yes” he asks her to prove it. By Palmer asking this question, it shows Ellie that science and faith cannot work alone. To elaborate, without faith, new discoveries and scientific theories …show more content…
This is seen when Ellie returns from her mission. At the climax of the movie, she pleads her case to the world that her experience is true. Multiple people request evidence of this “experience” but she fails to provide any. In this particular situation, Ellie has become more dependent on her faith than her science. As the meeting concludes, she states that she cannot provide any evidence, but remains side-by-side to her belief. Later on, two government workers conversed about her encounter and noticed her claim directly correlated with the eighteen hour video. Therefore, her powerful belief worked with her scientific studies to validate her