Review of the Movie "The Secret" in Book and DVD Created by Rhonda Byrne
Everyone wants to know the secret of success and riches beyond their dreams.
There plenty of self-help books and DVDs out there; so why is there still a market for "The Secret" movie and book?
Since Dale Carnegie penned "How to Win Friends and Influence People" in 1936, these seemingly simple guidelines have been re-presented in a broad range of styles by various authors.
Among the most successful are authors like Napoleon Hill whose "Law of Success" and "Napoleon Hill's Keys to Success: The 17 Principles of Personal Achievement" seem to have resonated more than most with the reading public.
Many people may view the concept and movie "The Secret" as yet another gift-wrapped, candy-coated,
positive-thinking-will-bring-you-everything diatribe but it may surprise you. Here, Rhonda Byrne brings together
threads of these success guidelines from a wide variety of sources not previously recognized. She has delved
back through the centuries and has discovered evidence in oral story-telling, literature, philosophy and
religion to confirm that these are timeless truths. She proclaims that respected historical characters from
Plato to Shakespeare understood these fundamental truths.
Her book has a companion DVD also called "The Secret". In this she uses talking heads to deliver sound-bites from the book to the camera. This alternative medium is an attempt to make the messages more palatable to a 21st Century audience. It's an acceptance that, regardless of how logical the secrets actually are, these points are not easily taken on board.
From my own experience in coaching and counseling, books and movies like this one are only part of the program. The DVD "The Secret" acts as a very effective finger-post. It shows the way to go but does not, by itself, change behavior. It's a bit like telling your kids, "In my day we used to respect adults." and then expecting radical change to happen.
"The Secret" DVD is a feature length film and deals with the principles of attraction, visualization and the right that we all have to become what we dream. These concepts are familiar to students of Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) but can be difficult for others to believe. They see them as airy-fairy and unrealistic.
Interestingly, Byrne's own story is a case study in using the power available through using the tenets of "The Secret". While she was in the pre-production stages, she knew what she needed to make "The Secret" but she was unsure of how to get the right people together to make it happen. By using the straightforward application of attraction ideals, the most appropriate people began to appear to make "The Secret" what it is today.
Although "The Secret" is available on DVD as a feature-length movie, it can also be bought as a download using ground-breaking technology that produces a TV quality images on your computer. Byrne is obviously doing everything she can to spread the word.
It seems to be one of the secrets that no matter how many formats and versions of "How to be Successful" there are you still may not connect with the total available audience. There are plenty to choose from including" Your Road Map for Success" by John C. Maxwell, " The Success Principles" by Jack Canfield and Janet Switzer and "Success Classics" by Tom Butler-Bowdon to name a few.
In the movie "The Secret" (available in book and DVD), Rhonda Byrne has produced an eminently readable book and an inspirational film that will have you asking serious questions about yourself. If you stay the course, you are guaranteed to start thinking along new lines.
Skeptical about The Secret?
Listen as Bob Doyle, one of the people in the movie, responds to criticisms about The Secret in a new podcast.
Reviewed by Mike Kay
