Webber Sybrun
December 20, 2011
Final Exam
Question Choice 2 and 3
3) Movies are useful tools for thinking about professional behavior and ethics. For example, films about lawyers can “raise questions about the proper and possible role of law in society”* while reflecting “powerful myths that influence our reactions to issues we meet in real life, including legal issues.” The same applies to journalism. We see these movies and in some ways they show us how American institutions are effected by crisis’s that undermines their credibility, another role we see and learn from in films is journalism “journalists are often called upon to make decisions based on a morally mature interpretation of principles rather than any specific code of conduct,” films gives dramatic life to struggles over those principles. In “All the Presidents Men” we clearly see that the US government and staff are not honest and trustworthy and there credibility is undermined and under investigation by the press. Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, whose investigation into the Watergate scandal set the stage for President Richard Nixon's eventual resignation. The free press myth is built upon the tenet that journalism can and should report truth that citizens may rationally act upon in making democracy work. That tenet underlies both libertarian and social responsibility models of the press. Classical libertarianism did not assume that journalism had a specific duty to present truth, but did see freedom of the press as key to a self-righting marketplace of ideas. The film encapsulates what media scholar Michael Schudson has called “the central myth of American journalism,” representing for the press “a charter, an inspiration, and a reason for being large enough to justify the constitutional protections that journalism enjoys. “A whole fabric of deception arose” during their investigation as they misled or lied to some of their sources and never appeared to consider possible alternatives to their actions. Journalism and other professions “reward competition and unusual achievement,” that could lead to further deceptions with serious consequences if left unchecked: “The accepted practices may then grow increasingly insensitive, and abuses and mistakes more common, resulting in harm to self, profession, clients, and society.

In the conversation we see an agent who is lonely, depressed, and paranoid. A fear for those that may be hearing his conversations and he fears what he does in life as a living happening to him. Agents and there gadgets undermine the privacy of people in America. At times we are told this is only for our safety but what if one is obsessed with Caul is a loner, a man whose job is to listen in but never be part of society. He has three locks on his door yet admits to having “nothing personal” inside. He sees everyone as a threat to his personal security, and won’t let anyone in to his life. By writing Caul in this way, Coppola creates a perfect set-up for the story that soon follows; a man obsessed with saving the life of someone who doesn’t even know he exists. As Caul, Gene Hackman gives one of his career-best performances working with a script which allows him to bring a depth and fragility to such a lonely, sad man. At work, when he mixes the recordings and tries to decipher the audio, we see a man totally immersed in this world yet he cannot apply the same to relationships around him. His only comfort and enjoyment comes from playing the saxophone alone in his apartment here's also the very interesting moral inquiry at the heart of this story: the questionable morality of Harry's job as a voyeur. The film makes us question the idea of skill and talent: Harry's the best at what he does, but all his technical brilliance, his ability to analyze and reconstruct sound, means nothing if he uses his talents for evil purposes. He's haunted by the memory of a case when his technical ability led to murder, and he becomes obsessed with "fixing" that failure by applying his ability, he thinks, in a more positive way. Is it a metaphor for the film artist's responsibility to use the tools of sound and images to tell worthy stories and express worthy ideas? I like to think so.

These two films tell me that America’s institutions were viewed as mischievous organizations. They are set up to serve and protect but they always show us how someone is not playing by the book. We see these institutions being beneficial to society but take a huge toll on those that work the jobs. We see acts of violence out of paranoia and we see institution not showing too much care for a member that is emotionally unstable. In Black Sunday we see a solider that is dishonorably discharged and feels as if his own country let him down. The institution he was part of has no longer considered him to be a member after all its efforts. These lives in the 1970’s were considered of value. These film portray America to seem crazy, not loyal, and non diverse.

Question2.

According to the authors, Deep Throat was a key source of information behind a series of articles on a scandal, which played a leading role in introducing the misdeeds of the Nixon administration to the general public. The Conversation, hinged on the notions of surveillance and wiretapping, sound becomes the most powerful tool in broadcasting the complicated psychology of the central character. These two characters are living in the 1970’s and have a great sense of paranoia in both films when it comes to the secrets they know and how the go about keeping and distributing information.
The contrast to this comparison is one works and shows conspiracy within the government then we see scandals with in the Federal Borough so this too shows a comparison on how official government branches are all involved in scandals and not following laws like the patriot act. Caul from The Conversation is a strictly secretive professional; a man whose life, as one character puts it in the taxi "has become his job." He is hired by top-shelf employers to listen in on others’ conversations, extracting important private information that he relays to them. Deep Throat is also a secretive professional; he to has turned his life into his job, and has secretive information. They both seem to be affected by the scandals being done around them. They also are not trying to be the hero or the solution to the overall problem but in some way seem to try and be the main source to fix the criteria in the plot of the film. Thus the film itself becomes akin to an extended audiotape, a dense and often times sonically harsh private recording. Harry's investigation involves a complex system of wires, mics, and recording tape. Deep throat is paranoid and fear’s these gadgets in his role in these films, why? Why not want to be the person who can show his country we have the right to protect and serve even if it’s the president that we must be targeted. The people votes is what people these people in power and then gives them access to scandals and scams. Why is it we see surveillance in one film and in another we see a much less innovative way to investigate which is basically one writing comments and answers into a note pad. Why is we don’t see these two worlds cross in the movie far as technology goes. The uneven comparison in the films leaves me to believe when information is being collected and it’s about the government its not to be recorded but if it’s about a civilian then we can use all gadgets. This shows how unparallel life was in the 1970’s.
Harry's suspicions regarding the potential violence surrounding the conversation are unclear and his attempts to attain freedom and clarity in the face of this predicament are ill advised, for he is too withdrawn and self-absorbed to feasibly find an answer. Deep throat on the other hand is the product of good investigative work. The use of gadgets and recorders weren’t used to make the President of the United States step down. Woodward, in All the President's Men, first mentions Deep Throat; earlier in the film Woodward reports calling "an old friend and sometimes source who worked for the federal government and did not like to be called at his office". Later he describes him as "a source in the Executive Branch who had access to information at CRP as well as at the White House". This is a unique position to observe the Executive Branch," and the men "whose fight had been worn out in too many battles". These conspiracies are portrayed in particular ways but at t he same time comparison can be made in the overall intentions of the characters in these film. There are fighting for rights and believes for the future of mankind. I feel these films are viewed in particular way so one can know where you work and who you work for can be misleading when you look at what people have to do for justice to be served. Meeting in secret places, recording information, it all deals with relieving paranoia in the 1970’s. This is a resolution to the racism, terrorism, and sexism that was apparent in the 1970’s; the character’s rolls were to assist in helping solve the problems or plots of the film. They were cooperating with the guideline’s of America but the were out to seek justice for America by bending those guidelines. The levels of destruction and the extraordinary human casualties unheard–of for Americans in the 1970’s but this was portrayed in these films. These men seem as if they are the one’s capable of stopping these forces. These characters are key in building credibility throughout the movie. On the other hand, however, we must also consider the negotiation that occurs between sub-government and government forces. The formation of a 'popular collective will' can never be complete because there are always excluded or marginalized forces, both within a given social formation and beyond it. This is how we see the film particular ways of showing us how information is of so much value. The two characters in this comparison are both fighting for the same cause but at the same time trying to protect the little lifestyles they have.