Enemy of the State

In the movie Enemy of the State directed by Tony Scott, there is a political bias against having a powerful government. From the year 1998, which was when the movie was produced, technological development has exponentially increased at a rapid rate. The government has become more sophisticated within many administrations including the NSA or National Security Agency creating an elite system of gathering information, as well as upping security standards through surveillance. This has aroused fear in many American’s point of views on what this new “powerful” government is becoming. This is the prevailing ideal promoted within this movie. Exploitation of this growing federal power is sparking fear in regards to people’s concerns for keeping their constitutional rights, and personal safety. Furthermore, the notion of corruption of power within the federal system compounds the fear of the “weak” individual. Technology not only changes the way markets and businesses develop the economy, but can alter human’s social enviornment and interactions. This altering of human’s social characteristics is what is concerning. The NSA has ramped up their attempts on keeping the nation safe through the use of technology and many refer to one major example of this called the “Big Brother Policy.” This, metaphorically representing an actual big brother overseeing a little brother, enables the government to do many things in which privacy can be breached. This can be from tapping phone calls, retaining all of your medical history, billing information, birth certificate, and social security number to name a few. The idea of electronic surveillance All films are on reserve at the Fine Arts Library. Your job is not to merely summarize the film or to comment on whether or not the actors gave a fine performance or if the director did a good job. Instead, you are to discuss the sociological content of the film. Taking popular culture as pedagogical, consider the lessons that popular culture offers about the role of surveillance in society. As well, you could comment on the limits of this medium (film) as means of theorizing surveillance. Introduction In the introduction of your film review you are expected to highlight the main themes of the film. Here, there is no need to describe or summarize the entire film. Instead, focus on those aspects of the film that will be most relevant to your analysis. You will also need to state your thesis in this section. What will you be attempting to say in this film review? Your review will be only 3-4 pages, so please be concise. Body of the review This is the most important section of the review. Offering your opinion, whether or not you agree with the film, is not the same and cannot substitute for critical analysis. Instead, choose clearly defined issues to explore (e.g., panoptic power, the role of the gaze, gender, race, the body, counter-surveillance, resistance, the role of confession, social discrimination) Remember that each paragraph must have a topic sentence. Do not make sweeping, general statements that you cannot substantiate. Instead, develop two or three points clearly and in detail. Use this section to explain further the points that you raise in your introduction. You could provide analysis of particular scenes from the film to substantiate your argument. As well, you could provide pertinent background information regarding the setting (temporal or what was occurring in ‘real life’ when the film was made and/or during the time that it is set in). Remember, your analysis must discuss the relevance of the film to the themes of the course. To do so, you could start by asking how technology figures in the film. Is it seen as productive or enabling, repressive, or as the inevitable part of some future? Taking technology in its instrumental sense as having the aim of altering the human environment (a technology could be a pen). What characters are agential subjects? Meaning, who has agency in the film? Does the film present a certain political bias? What assumptions does the film make in regards to privacy, the state, or the future? These are suggestions. You do not need to follow them. Conclusion Use this section to demonstrate that you have succeeded in writing what you set out in the introduction.

The film Enemy of the plead is a conspiracy-thriller film released in 1998 by Touchstone Pictures and was directed by Tony Scott and written by David Marconi. The film uses a variety of cultural assumptions, attitudes, values and beliefs end-to-end to manipulate the viewers of the film into accepting them. Enemy of the State is found around the US Governments discussion agencies and politicians and their huge amount of power, technology and the conspiracies involved with their intelligence departments much(prenominal) as the National Security Agency (NSA). Robert doyen (Will Smith) a labour lawyer, who unknowingly becomes involved in a establishment conspiracy when he receives a disc containing the characterisation of the writ of execution of Congressman Hammersly (Jason Robards). This is when Robert Deans life set downs to fall asunder; he loses his job, his family and all his money. Whilst on the run he meets a former government operative, Edward Lyle Brill (Gene Hackman) who then unwillingly befriends Dean and helps him to escape from the NSA. Brill becomes an antihero because of his unconventional methods, and because he is unlikeable, but is a protagonist in the end. In the film, Enemy of the State, there ar many cultural assumptions, values, beliefs stereotypes and attitudes presented throughout the film. One of the most essential values presented in this film is that of privacy, which conflicts with the governments want of safety. The film is based around the governments proposal to install video and audio devices throughout US households. This is for surveillance purposes, mainly to rule out terrorism, but is as well as a major invasion of privacy. This is also the reason for the murder of Congressman Philip Hammersly, as he was impertinent to the idea and his vote could mean the cancelation of the bill. Because of this the audience are positioned where they begin to dislike the authority figures in this film, which then promotes Dean as the protagonist throughout the film, and becomes a more...