Over the past few years I’ve received many comments asking why would I use the title Magic Pills for this documentary. And over the last few months people on social media have been actively concerned about the title of the film. I feel it is time to address this on our blog.
I understand the concern. People are worried that we are denigrating homeopathy by associating it with the word magic. That we are playing into the skeptics perspective of magic as an illusion, something that isn’t real, something manipulated.
But magic has another meaning, something that works but we don’t understand. Since the film came out I have heard from so many people that their families call homeopathy the Magic Pills.
The film’s role is to question, not to create propaganda. It is to genuinely start a conversation. To speak to the genuine skeptic that has not had much exposure to homeopathy except for the negative media and say, “We understand the arguments against homeopathy. We acknowledge the perceived concerns. Now here is the other side of the equation, did you know that the science actually says that the better a study is designed, the more likely it is to be positive? Did you know that people who couldn’t be helped by conventional medicine are experiencing measurable long lasting benefits from homeopathy? Maybe we should ask more questions about the mainstream narrative, do some research, and then decide for ourselves rather than be told what to think.”
The word magic raises a question. The word magic has so many meanings and associations: the never ending search for the magic pill, people describing their recovery as ‘magic’. People are constantly looking for the magic in their lives, here we are presenting it to them.
I understand how hurt you may feel at the endless attacks against homeopathy, the outright lies printed in the media, and the worst designed studies being used to propagate the idea that homeopathy is unscientific when nothing could be further from the truth. That you feel the title of the film may fall in line with those attacks, and build on the perception that homeopathy doesn’t work. Let us not pretend that the argument against homeopathy does not exist. Let us not hide our heads in the sand. We need to come out and say the argument against homeopathy is unscientific. Come join us and we’ll show you another perspective.
Lastly when the film is sitting side by side with other documentaries on Amazon or iTunes, we want them to be intrigued by the title and taken on a journey that they may not otherwise expect.
As we believe in giving various perspectives a voice, we may publish ideas we don't necessarily agree with, therefore the views of the authors do not necessarily reflect the views of Magic Pills, Ananda More, or Phosphorus Films.
