Movie Review: "Something the Lord Made"

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This movie (2004) sounds as if it has a religious theme, but it does not. Instead, it is thoroughly sociospiritual, defending equal opportunity for all. It is the dramatic story of an African American doctor (Vivian Thomas) who was born with the creative genius to understand the depths of medicine. Originally a carpenter, he aided a caucasian physician to perform the first heart-surgery. The caucasian doc got all the credit-- no surprise in the old days of bigotry and ignorance. (Until then, surgeons were prohibited from ever touching the
heart.)
This is the story of how this brilliant man was ignored, neglected, even abused, in the United States because of his race. The story is not a blast of excitement; in some areas, it feels almost like a documentary.
But it tells a story that badly, desperately needs to be told, of how society often ruined itself by ruining the lives, or preventing the educational development, of minority-persons. Due to this blind and ignorant pressure, any number of good, even great, minds went to waste. The hero of the movie, Vivian Thomas, was the exception. After years of hard and even genius-level work, he was rejected by several minority universities; and too little, too late, he was finally granted a
doctorate from Johns-Hopkins, which his life and discoveries greatly benefited.
This movie is a reminder that, no matter how humble a beginning, a Soul has a history that might grant it genius, or gifts, in many areas. We should never take any person, any Soul, for granted. Each should be given an equal chance to participate in, and give to, the Whole.
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TV Review: "The Twilight Zone"

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This series represents true "vintage tv," and was first produced way back in the late 1950's. It was rewritten and refilmed as a series in the mid-1980's. It still contains the very familiar musical refrain, although, in this later edition, it is much more "psychedelic" than the original.
One episode is particularly thoughtprovoking. It concerns a young man named Leonard who earns a fat paycheck by practicing "trance-channeling." In the episode, he has his very first appearance on national tv. Then, astonishingly, he comes into touch with the "real thing," a higher Power in the Unconscious mind that wants to speak through him.
This is completely new to him; it has never happened before. All during his fabulously wealthy career, he has claimed to "channel" a "ten thousand year old warrior," but he has been just pretending (acting). When the real Power does come through, he admits to the audience, which includes many "faithful" followers, that his work has all been fake and phony: He has never "channeled" anything or anyone in his long career. This, as his manager warns in the beginning, ruins them both economically, but Leonard feels more comfortable being authentic than when he was playing a "role." He chooses to live in honesty, and begins, for a radical change, actually to help people. He exposes the whole "channelling" phenomenon as one of sheer desperation; people need to pay to believe that they are being touched by the extraordinary, or even the miraculous. This is a very poor foundation for metaphysics or spirituality.
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