Shhh... It's a secret
Mon 14 May 2007
Lucy Killip, Journalism
The hit movie The Secret is selling in the millions as people rush to learn how they can change their lives through the power of thought.
The Secret is a feature length film that aims to teach people how to change their lives by utilising the full power of their thoughts narrated by 25 writers, philosophers, scientists and doctors who explain ‘the secret’ to the viewer.
‘The secret,’ as it is called in the film is the idea that through harnessing the potential of the law of attraction people can have whatever they desire in life.
The law of attraction states in simple terms that energy attracts energy or like attracts like. This means that as people become consumed by what is missing in their life they concentrate on negative thoughts and emotions with the resulting outcome being more of the same negative thoughts and outcomes.
The film says the law of attraction works so that even without meaning to people are constantly attracting things into their life through their thought processes.
By focusing on positive feelings and thoughts the law of attraction states similar positive energy frequencies will be drawn to you and the result will be a happier and more fulfilled life.
In contemporary, consumer-driven society people are missing out on the joys of life because they are focussing all their energy on what they do not have instead of what they do, says Rhonda Byrne creator of The Secret.
Before discovering ‘the secret’ Ms Byrne worked as an Australian television producer and told ABC news in the US she learned about the law of attraction through a 100-year-old book called The Science of Getting Rich. However, as she researched further she discovered ‘the secret’ had been known for centuries by academics and philosophers such as Plato, Galileo, Edison and Einstein.
The film also claims that people have the power to heal their physical ailments through the power of their mind.
"I've seen kidneys regenerated. I've seen cancer dissolved," Michael Bernard Beckwith, founder of Agape International Spiritual Centre, featured in the film told the ABC’s Nightline show.
Ms Byrne told the ABC that she wouldn't even get a flu shot because, "if you're feeling good, how can you attract any illness to you?"
So is ‘the secret’ just a money making scam or is it something more? The ABC reports sceptics believe it is not only wrong but also dangerous to lead people to believe they can become rich, famous, cure illnesses and lose weight through the power of their feelings.
One thing is certain; the creators of The Secret are reaping the benefits of the movie’s and book’s commercial success.
Through word -of-mouth, viral marketing and the internet the DVD has sold thousands of copies and exceeded download expectations.
“I think the marketing campaign behind The Secret is going to go down in history as the greatest case study of viral marketing ever done,” marketing guru Joe Vitale told the ABC.
The Secret was even featured on Oprah and sales skyrocketed as a result compelling the publisher to request a further two million volumes of the book.
Whether fact or fiction The Secret has taken the world by storm.
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