This was a pretty popular movie, I doubt you needed to explain it, nevertheless, it's source info is the book of the same name by Carl Sagan.

It's a brilliant book and a very good movie, although some of the mongloids thought the ending didn't make sense. The idea was, there was no real revelation besides a self-examination. It could have been an alien, her father (notice when he says "you've got your mothers hands"), it could have been heaven, a planet near Vega, imagination, a dream on board this craft, it was written with several available interpretations. But the joke, like you see on South Park is 'the alien was her dad' or some shit. Of course missing the point.

All that said, the idea of the end of Contact was supposed to convey the Christ-like story, an allusion to religion, not a detraction or endorsement, just an allusion, that Ellie came back from this journey only to be believed by those who had faith that what happened to her was real. Or she was bat-shit crazy and wishing thoughts of her deceased father into being. A really smart movie, I think. it didn't answer anyting for you. Carl Sagan was trying to get people to open their minds to possibilities.

I could see some similarities.
Where the implication is back on faith, the guy can't prove it and pleads for you to believe what he just said. You could think he's just a hippy baked out on acid and thought he saw some shit, or he could have actually seen something and the reader/listener/viewer is left to take the "evidence" for what it's worth.

Because there is the possibility that it's real, it's probably less important what the message was told to him (or not) than it is to believe that what happened to him is true? I hope that made sense. In other words, some people might be hung up that he forgot the secret of the universe, the fact he shit the bed, the fact he's trippin balls and might be oblivious to the fact that he's telling the truth, he saw aliens. And might just discount that altogether, throwing the baby with the bathwater.

Very interesting thoughts. mad017

I still think the song is satire, but I am open to new ideas, I don't claim I know 100% what it's all about, I don't know how anyone could.