Witness to Rodwell

[ArchieBedford]

I think someone may already have posted a link to this film in the middle of another thread recently, because it features a lengthy interview with Peter Khoury. It is in fact worth watching the whole thing (even though it's 56 minutes):

http://disclose.tv/action/viewvideo/61375/My_Mum_Talks_to_Aliens__full_doc_/

You can stream it live or download it from the link.

It's a recent mainstream TV fly-on-the-wall documentary from Australia about Mary Rodwell (for those who don't know who she is, she's a veteran Australian abduction researcher/councillor with a substantial international profile) trying to convince her son, a skeptical veterinarian, that the abduction phenomenon is real and by implication that she's not barking mad. It's well made and even-handed, and kind of reminds me of Breakthru Films' body of work. The family-relationship angle is well chosen to anchor the subject. Both mother and son come across very well, in fact.

I've met Mary face-to-face, discussed the subject with her at length and seen her present, and have to say I have a few issues with her general approach and conclusions. But on the other hand there is no rule book or recognised qualification for doing this work, and she has balls allright - as you'll see if you watch the film.

Any Australia-resident forum members reading this: maybe you could tell us if there was any fallout from the screening of this film last October like public comment, follow-up TV debates, newspaper editorials, round-the-photocopier discussions at the office? It would be interesting to explore.

 

[The Pair of Cats]

Hi Archie. I posted the documentary here some time ago, just after it was screened in Australia in fact. I haven't seen or heard of any follow up press on it, although i haven't really looked hard or at all. As with most places in the world UFOs and associated topics are usually met with recognition of the possibility of such but with not much further thought than that on the matter. UFO abduction cases usually filed in the "WTF" basket or in other words on the extreme fringe of UFO believability. That is not to say there isn't a healthy society of contactees and believers there, as evidenced in "My Mother Talks to Aliens".
I also have some problems with Mary Rodwell's take on the phenomena but I admire her guts and dedication to not accepting the debunkery that also abounds in the field.
What the film showed was that her son, the sceptic, after meeting and talking to the likes of Peter Khoury was able to better discern whether there was indeed anything to the phenomenon. In other word a better understanding can be obtained by getting out there and talking to people involved instead of being an armchair critic. He also saw just how fervent and obsessed the debunkers can be in defending their position and proving that it is all bunk, coming off no better than the true believers in their zeal.

 

[Sean Elifritz]

I've seen that doc referenced here several times now. I liked the film but wasn't especially impressed with her. She appeared to believe in a lot of things that seem pretty easily dismissable imo. She actually cited the claims of Corso in a debate with a scientist which caused me to cringe. Then she did the ol' numbers thing that Friedman loves where ya' say you've got 14,000 of these, 11,000 of those, etc. All the while not bothering to mention that 99% of that is crap. She would have been much more effective in that debate if she had stuck to the handful of the best cases out there and admitted that the bulk of what makes up ufology is pretty worthless. And that video she showed her son looked like nothing to me but a classic case of military flares. But I do find the Khoury case to be genuinely interesting.

 

[ArchieBedford]

I also have some problems with Mary Rodwell's take on the phenomena but I admire her guts and dedication to not accepting the debunkery that also abounds in the field

Oh yeah, Mary's out there with Dolores Cannon and (dare I say this?) John Mack in trying to find a positive side to these experiences. Most researchers who get pulled into this work go that way, to one degree or another (exceptions would be Elaine Douglas, Yvonne Smith, John Carpenter, Barbara Lamb, Jed Turnbull, David Jacobs and the now-retired Budd Hopkins, among others). Rodwell does have guts though, and stands up to debunkers face-to-face whilst they try to mock and ridicule her. You gotta admire that.

---------- Post added at 06:25 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:22 AM ----------

All the while not bothering to mention that 99% of that is crap. She would have been much more effective in that debate if she had stuck to the handful of the best cases out there and admitted that the bulk of what makes up ufology is pretty worthless

Agreed she is not an effective formal debater, neither trained nor practiced at it. Not sure I'd be a whole lot better in that situation. Maybe you would.