Film Quote of the Day: Why 'Contact' Understood Human Connection Better Than Any Sci-Fi Movie

What's out there in the deepest annals of space? Are there people? And will they ever send us a message? Maybe they're already here.

These are the questions posed by Carl Sagan in his novel Contact, which Robert Zemeckis adapted into one of my favorite films of all time.

It's a movie that dares to say we are as interesting as whatever is out there. And until we overcome our differences here, we're not going to be talking with them much.

To me, this movie takes its science and its fiction really seriously, blending both into an incredibly realistic world about not having all the answers you want, but getting what you need.

At its heart, the film isn't about reaching across light-years to shake hands with an alien, but about our desperate longing to be connected to the people around us, in peace.

And there's one quote from an alien that diagnoses that.

Let's dive in.

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The Scene in Question

Okay, so this movie is awesome. Idon'tt want to spoil it, but basically you meet Dr. Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster) when she's a kid, close with her Dad. But then we learn her Dad died, and she got obsessed with space. Now, she works at SETI, trying to contact alien life.

Then one day, she makes contact, and the aliens send down the schematics for a contraption they want Earth to build in order to communicate with them. We do, but religious fanatics blow it up. There's a backup one built somewhere else, and Ellie is chosen to go on it to talk with the aliens.

So now, after years of skepticism, bureaucratic roadblocks, and tragedy, Ellie finally makes the journey through the machine.

She hurtles through a wormhole in space and literally does not have the words to describe what she's seeing.

She says, "They should have sent a poet."

When the pod finally settles, Ellie wakes up on a dreamlike shore that resembles a drawing of Pensacola, Florida, she made as a child.

A figure approaches her; we see that it's her late father, Ted (David Morse), whose sudden death when she was young sparked her lifelong quest to listen to the stars and hope for something greater out there.

Well, that greater thing is here.

Ellie quickly realizes this isn't literally her father, but an extraterrestrial intelligence projecting a comforting image pulled directly from her memories.

But still, this is the face she needs to see, and the person she needs to know that she's okay and she's living her dreams.

Eventually, after the emotional catharsis, Ellie asks questions about their civilization, their place in the universe, and what comes next. But the entity gently redirects her focus toward humanity. It tells her...

"You're an interesting species. An interesting mix. You're capable of such beautiful dreams, and such horrible nightmares. You feel so lost, so cut off, so alone, only you're not. See, in all our searching, the only thing we've found that makes the emptiness bearable, is each other."

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What The Quote Means

Damn, this movie gets me every time. It's such a poignant look at our own flaws and how much we need to evolve before we can even feel like we deserve contact.

And that quote is pretty much a direct statement of Carl Sagan's worldview.

Throughout Contact, Ellie’s obsession with radio astronomy is driven by a deep personal wound. One that has left her an orphan for most of the movie and isolated both in her work and even in her romantic endeavors.

Ellie is so sure that finding intelligent life elsewhere will answer humanity's greatest questions and cure her own loneliness.

We know that won't happen. It will only be when she lets the people around her in.

When she finally meets an alien called The Entity, it brings up our inherent paradox: we build these big machines to see the stars, but they may only make us more scared.

They make us feel more alone.

Well, what if we looked up less and started looking out at each other? Maybe we should find comfort in the fact that we're surrounded by people who can work together to achieve great things.

Contact acknowledges the cold reality that the universe is quiet at night. Maybe the voices we're supposed to be hearing are the people next to us.

The true revelation of the alien's message is that advanced intelligence hasn't unlocked a cosmic shortcut to purpose.

You have to find that on your own. Ellie has it with her listening, but she needs to focus on her personal connection, too.

Summing It All Up

What makes Contact an enduring classic is its willingness to prioritize emotional truth over cold exposition. This isn't an alien movie as much as it is a movie about us, and how we need to connect to have a fulfilling life.

Even our greatest discoveries pale in comparison with our relationships with other people.

So go out and make a friend!