Why didn't they send another person through the device??? - Contact (1997) Discussion

[–] binaryguy1101 10 years ago

the device was designed to be able to be used only once.

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[–] Sidewindr 10 years ago

That's not true, if it were then why were they going to do a test run of the NASA machine with a dummy in the pod?? They also built 2 machines, I think it is perfectly valid to ask why they did not send a second person to validate her findings, this is proper scientific method.. theorise, experiment, observe and validate.

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[–] Newt73 10 years ago

Agreed. That is the only part where I want an explanation.

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[–] kokumaker 9 years ago

Nobody building these machines on Earth had any idea that the portal they were going to be open would be closed off after a single use. Ellie only learns this from the alien she communicates with... AFTER going through the portal.

If the first model had successfully sent a dummy through the portal on a test run, they would have shortly been very, very disappointed to find that they had wasted a dummy on their only chance to use the machine. But since the fanatic blew it up before it could be used, the portal was still usable by the second machine.

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[–] teck76 10 years ago

I don't think they were going to do a full test run with the dummy, since they thought the machine might launch the pod into space. In that case the pod would be wasted on the dummy.

But you're right about sending a second person. There was no reason not to try again.

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[–] PBlueturtle 10 years ago

It was implied by the alien entity that it was only possible to use the machine once when Elie asked if they could come back and he said, "This was just the 1st step. In time you'll take another."

And when she objected saying that others need to see what she had seen, he said that this is the way it's been done for billions of years.

In addition, if memory serves me correctly, the book emphasizes that point even more directly.

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[–] Sidewindr 9 years ago

This is a good point and somewhat overlooked .. according to the alien a second run will not work, however it does not PRECLUDE them from trying a second run.

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[–] overlord_chaos 8 years ago

this breaks the movie and book, cause thie first step was to create an artificial worm hole to joint some "natural" wormholes (or artificial ones left behind by the creators of the aliens and they are natural cause they cannot be closed? or parts of it at least if the aliens can create artificial ones to join earth to them trough several jumps) so whats the 2 step for humanity? to re create the artificial worm holes to reach that planet once again? without having the slightest way to know how the hell to reach there? so its like to find a needle on an infinite size and proportion haystack... yeah that does not works, or the aliens just say *beep* we did not know the humanity was so *beep* we need to bail out of this people" and the excuse its "dont call us we will call you" and if we EVER cross paths ever again with them it would be something like "sorry we missplaced your telephone number and thats why we never call you back. sorry LOL" at least thats the perspective i have come up after almost 2 decades that i watched the movie.

WB/DC execs meeting (replace ke$ha for snyder and voila)

https://youtu.be/1ze3ic1DBdU

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[–] kokumaker 8 years ago

It is true. Ellie came back with that information from the alien she spoke with. It wasn't known in advance that the doorway opened by the Machine would be closed after a single use.

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[–] doughazelrigg 10 years ago

Sounds like grounds for a sequel :)

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[–] Tyler-A-Arse 10 years ago

I thought the device would only work once. And after her not bringing back any "proof", no way would anyone want to finance the building of another one.

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[–] MCavic 10 years ago

They didn't want proof - humanity isn't ready for it. Imagine what would happen if God came down from Heaven for a chat? People would literally lose their minds. The Vegans aren't gods, but the reaction would basically be the same.

Also, at the end of the movie it was said that Ellie recorded 18 hours of static. I think the government believed her, but they had to deny it for the public.

I'm really curious though, what would have happened if Drumlin had gone to Vega? It would be harder to deny his account, because he's a stronger speaker, and a more notable scientist. But they'd have to.

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[–] SteverB 10 years ago

...what would have happened if Drumlin had gone to Vega? It would be harder to deny his account, because he's a man.

There. Fixed that for you.

Drumlin was written as an arrogant blowhard and I'm not entirely sure from seeing the film that he was a more "notable scientist". He may have been, but I have a feeling that his notoriety came NOT from his scientific achievements, but from his arrogance and self-promotion. Ellie was FAR more scientifically qualified to go on this particular trip. The notion that Drumlin would have been harder to deny is just sexist crap.

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[–] penntellit 10 years ago

ellie was also incapable of rational thought when others disagreed with her and
prone to emotional outburst with severe daddy issues.

is that what you want as a representative

that's not sexism that's the reality of the character

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[–] askebisgaard 9 years ago

"incapable of rational thought when others disagreed with her" - when was this?

"prone to emotional outburst with severe daddy issues" - I don't think that's a problem, unless you become irrational when you need to be rational. Emotions are important for well-being, you know.

Drumlin certainly wasn't portrayed as a healthy character. He was portrayed like a typical politician-type who says whatever people want to hear, to get what he wants. That's very atypical for scientists. Many scientists are geeks whom have trouble communicating their findings with people outside their field. And doing science requires a strong humbleness in the first place.

So in this case, I would actually say that there could be a little sexism involved - but not consciously. It's just that we men are often assumed as superior.

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[–] MCavic 9 years ago

I have a feeling that his notoriety came NOT from his scientific achievements, but from his arrogance and self-promotion.

Well yes, I was talking about his hyped-up image, rather than his actual qualifications. I personally have way more respect for Ellie.

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[–] incantation_521 10 years ago

I would think that the world that sent the schematics, probably set the wormhole to bring them there. the pod had no way to reset the wormhole to that or any other destination. they could've takin' a second trip, but who knows where they would end up.

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[–] evermind-1 9 years ago

Read the book, they travel with a team of five if I remember correctly.

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[–] nass_k 9 years ago

The investigative team would've had copies of the confidential reports that Constantine mentioned so would've know Ellie was speaking some truth when she said she had been away for 18 hours Earth-time. Kitz ignored this so the grilling was uncalled for. It was just done to make Joe Public believe it was all a hoax.

Also if it had been Drumlin who had made the trip I wonder in what form the aliens would've appeared to him.

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[–] Globalcharmer 9 years ago

Same form but the alien would have kicked Drumlin's butt for his treatment of Elle. Well, probably not because the aliens appeared to have advanced beyond the butt-kicking phase of development. Being benign, they likely would have appeared as someone Drumlin was closely attached to in the past who he loved and who loved him as Elle's father did her. Or they might have mistaken him for Hitler and appeared as Eva Braun.

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[–] dcobbimdb 9 years ago

I haven't read the book but read somewhere that it was said that it couldn't be done more than once. I can't attest to it, but that's what I read. Now why they didn't exploit that more in the movie has always been a mystery to me as well. I mean was it too expensive to run a 2nd time or something? I doubt it...

Certainly a plot point which should have been further explained, I mean if nobody is going to believe her then why not try it again right?

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[–] The_Shawshank_Inception 9 years ago

It was the only way to get the themes of the movie across.

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[–] tuttt-2 9 years ago

They should have addressed it in the film. In the book it stated that nothing happened when the machine was operated a second time.

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