Check out this recent episode of Cineverse where we discuss the seminal 1970s conspiracy thriller, director Alan J. Pakula’s The Parallax View, starring Warren Beatty.
This is a film I discuss extensively in my book, CONSPIRACY FILMS: A TOUR OF DARK PLACES IN THE AMERICAN CONSCIOUS and it’s one of the films regularly screened in my class on the history of conspiracy theories and conspiracy films. As I argue in my book, The Parallax View is one of a small handful it films from the late 1960s and early 70s that established the conspiracy theory film as a distinct genre with its uniques set of archetypes that set it apart from other thrillers, mysteries, and action films.
The narrative follows Joseph Frady, an intrepid reporter (Beatty), as he embarks on an investigation into a series of enigmatic deaths associated with the clandestine Parallax Corporation. Frady's pursuit unveils a perilous network of political intrigue and secrecy.The Parallax View delves into government corruption, assassination, and the manipulation of public perception. The film benefits from the stylish guidance of Pakula, who adeptly weaves a web of tension and paranoia throughout the story. The cinematography, editing, and skillful use of visual symbolism further contribute to its lasting impact.
As all successful films hold a mirror to their times, reflect the most unsettling freefolating anxieties of the culture that created them, The Parallax View shows us how the JFK, RFK, Martin Luther King assassinations, followed by the Pentagon Papers and Watergate scandals, birthed an era of suspicion and conspiracy theories. Speculations about conspiracies that have been proven nonexistent beyond a shadow of a doubt (JFK, RFK, MLK) and very real instances of corruption and conspiracy (Pentagon Papers, Watergate) birthed an era of justified and healthy suspicion and skepticism in officialdom, institutions of power, and the elites. But, as we see today, the reach of conspiracism is ongoing and often toxic and destructive to a society. Check out The Parallax View and ponder how we can spot that line between healthy suspicion and the poisonous fantasy worlds of Pizzagate and QAnon.
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You should learn something from this book, professor. Conspiracies are real.
ReplyDeleteDear Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteYou mean film? The film indeed is an excellent reflection of the Zeitgeist of 1974. As you read in the post, it was an era of warranted suspicion in officialdom and the film dramatized it in its fictional plot based on the various JFK and RFK conspiracy theories. However, one must draw the line between what is provable and verifiable and what remain nebulous, ever-shifting fantasies about hidden global cabals controlling everything in the world from behind the scenes. Corruption and abuse of power the kind which the country saw with the Pentagon Papers and Watergate affairs are one thing, but the various
JFK, RFK, and MLK conspiracy theories have all been debunked beyond any reasonable doubt. We must be careful not to lose sight of the real criminality while we're chasing fantasies of Men in Black, assassins on the grassy knoll, and the Illuminati.