What Is The Secret?

The Secret is a 2006 film directed by D. J. Caruso, loosely based on the New Age book The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles. It tells the story of a struggling writer (Michael Berg) who learns about The Secret, and eventually becomes rich from it.

Kurt Loder from USA Today said that "The Secret" is an example of how "the spiritual and material worlds seem to be merging in this new age, whether intentionally or not." 

Loder quotes author Jeffrey Kripal as saying, "We're living in an age where anything can happen unless you stop believing. I mean, look at the state of our world. It's in the hands of billions of people who are willing to believe anything." 

A commercial for The Secret showed an attractive blonde woman saying, "What if there was a formula for wealth, health, and happiness that once you discovered it, everyone could use?" She then shows an elderly man walking in a crowded street. A few pedestrians turn to see what is happening. Suddenly an elderly gentleman drops dead of a heart attack as the crowd gathers around him. A young man looks into the camera and says "it works." He then walks away with a briefcase containing millions upon millions of dollars. The commercial ends with the words "The Secret" printed in gold on a white background.

According to the movie's official website, The Secret is a way of thinking and living that draws its inspiration from the story of an apple tree.

In summer 2003, Rhonda Byrne was given a copy of The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles while undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer at the age of 44. She made a videotape while reading the book, which she later sent to Joel Roberts Pozner to edit into a documentary. After Pozner watched it he asked if he could produce it, possibly in concert with Will Smith and his production company, Overbrook Entertainment.

In February 2005, Byrne sold the rights to "The Secret" to Warner Bros. Entertainment. The project was produced by Bruce Brooks, as well as Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. In October of that year, D. J. Caruso was selected as the film's director.

The DVD with Bonus CD was released on March 28, 2007 include "A Gift from The Secret" and a CD which is entitled "A Gift from The Secret". Both will be available for purchase separately after March 28th. 

Billboard Magazine reported that over 1 million copies have been sold in the U.S. alone.

The film's trailer was released on January 4, 2006. The film was released to 3,850 theaters a week before its actual release date of April 28, 2006 and held the number one spot at the box office on its opening weekend, where it grossed $27 million and went on to gross worldwide total of $67 million as of December 31, 2006.

A soundtrack album was released by Roadrunner Records on April 19, 2006. The album features most of the songs used in the movie with a few new tracks including "Secret" performed by will Smith. The track "I Am Not Alone" was also written by Michael Bolton and Matthew Bellamy of Muse although it did not appear on the standard soundtrack release. The album reached #17 on the "Billboard" 200 and was certified gold by Music Canada. 

A remix containing "Secret" was later included in Smith's third album, "Band of Brothers".

In October 2006, Universal Studios announced a limited-edition DVD version would be released on December 15, 2006, with a full DVD release sometime in 2007. This version is made from the film's original video negative rather than from the original film stock that was used for the theatrical release.

The DVD is accompanied by a bonus CD, "A Gift from The Secret", which contains the same track listing as the original soundtrack. This version of the DVD was released on April 28, 2007.

The film received a "Rotten" rating of 36% on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes based on 145 reviews and an average rating of 5.1/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "This spiritual rehash comes to life in an awkward manner." Metacritic assigned it a score of 48 out of 100 based on 32 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film three out of four stars. He called it "a movie about a philosophy, not a philosophy itself ... an exercise in motivational thinking". He thought that it was unlikely that the film would have any impact on people who were not seeking a motivation to improve their lives, but was convinced that "for those with even slight curiosity and a taste for magic, it's an intriguing and sometimes baffling experience."

The film has also been criticized by some Christians. The Christian Research Institute (CRI) published an online article discussing why they felt The Secret is not a Christian concept; some Christians believe that positive thinking is akin to witchcraft or heresy. David Black, an author and Christian apologist, wrote in "Christian Research Journal" that the film is a counterfeit philosophy and is not genuinely from God. A review published by Crosswalk.com said that "while the message of The Secret is positive (and universal), there's too much New Age content that can be spiritually harmful.

Similarly CRI has stated that the film's promotion of positive thinking, visualization and mindset has a close resemblance to teachings offered by some motivational speakers like Wayne Dyer and Anthony Robbins who "promote spirituality without God". CRI stated that the message of The Secret is not fundamentally different than the third of the Ten Commandments and Catholic Social Teaching, but also noted that positive thinking and visualizing something is not always sufficient to bring about adequate results.

Some critics have questioned whether the "secret" works at all. David Leonhardt wrote in the "New York Times" that statistically, the individual examples in the film did not appear to be sufficient evidence to support claims that it would work on a large scale. He also pointed out that while Byrne claims in her book and film that many people use this "secret" every day, she provides no evidence (apart from stories) for this claim.

The film is criticized for the lack of non-positive outcomes. In general, detractors (such as Christian research institute) say that the outcome is the only practical measure of the success or failure of a belief. They believe that The Secret is less about "suggesting that it's possible to improve your life quickly and easily" and more about "suggesting that you can change your life simply by having a positive attitude".

The idea of imagining future events in order to change them has been suggested before (in 1870, 1894, and 1946), but scientifically proven to be ineffective; this is referred to as "thought broadcasting".

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In 2004, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh was convicted of sedition relating to the Rajneeshpuram commune and sentenced to two years in prison. On 25 January 2004, the biological hazards unit of Oregon's Oregon State Police found no evidence that the feces discovered in a beaker (see below) were infectious. However, on 7 May 2004, the Pending Investigations Section of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) amended its criminal complaint charging Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh with conspiracy to undermine or destroy a government by intimidation through acts likely to wake terror or cause involuntary servitude and civil rights violations.