The Conversation and the 1970s America - Essay Example

The Conversation and the 1970s America The conversation is a movie production by Francis Coppola Ford. It is a psychological thriller which stars Gene Hackman, and supported by John Cazale, Harrison Ford, and Cindy Williams. Gene Hackman plays the role of Harry Caul, a business man in the surveillance industry. He is the main protagonist in this movie. Other role includes that of Harrison Ford, who acts as Martin Stett. He hires Caul to intercept important information from Cindy Williams who plays the role of Ann, and Fredrick Forest who plays the role of Mark. This movie has won two major awards, that isthe 1974 Palm d’Or award, and a selection for preservation by the national film registry in the category of culture, aesthetic and historical significance. The main thematic connotation in this movie is participation vs. surveillance, and reality vs. perception. These were the main themes that characterized the political environment in 1974 between President Nixon’s party the Republican, and his opponents, the democrats.This movie was produced in 1974, at a time when President Richard Nixon was facing political pressure and criticisms due to his role in wiretapping conversations and political activities of his main opponents, the democrats. This is in relation to his re-election. It is also during this period that the American corporate industry was growing in power, and influence (Salinger, 17). For instance, Lewis Powell, an influential corporate lawyer earned an appointment as a judge to the US Supreme Court due to his role in shaping the various legislations in congress.The American corporates were able to influence government policies and the enactment of various legislations.This paper therefore denotes that the movie conversation portrays the thematic connotations that characterized the political and corporate environment of the periods of 1974. In this movie, Harry Caul has the ability of recording any private conversation between two or more people, and anywhere they are. However, one of surveillance work resulted into the murder of three individuals. This creates a sense of guilt and regret over the work he did. This guilt is also brought about by his strict religious believes in Catholicism (Welsh, Gene and Rodney, 33). On this note, the consequences of his surveillance work that led to the murder of these three individuals greatly affected another contract he got from Martin Stett. This is because of the perceptions that Caul had, in regard to his work, and the use of the information from him. To him, the intention of Martin Stett was to kill the two couples, that is Ann and Mark. On this basis, Caul refused to hand over the buggled information to Martin Stett. However, the perceptions of Caul were wrong, since the intention of Martin Stett was to use the information for purposes of protecting his boss, the Director. A role played by Robert Duvall. His lack of judgment led to the murder of Robert Duvall. This scene directly relates to the political events of the 1974. During this period, the political environment was filled with information emanating from the Watergate scandal. During this scandal, President Nixon was found with tapes that had recordings of private conversation of various people. The FBI were able to prove that the president had a complex recording system that was able to effectively record any conversation involving two or more individuals, anywhere they are. It is this type of technology that Harry Caul used in recording and blogging into the private conversations of individuals.In fact, the producer of the movie denotes that the film used the same types of surveillance technology and wiretapping equipment’s that the Nixon administration used during the scandal. However, Coppola is quick to point that this is coincidental since the script of the movie was written in the 1960s, before the disclosure of the Watergate scandal. The blogging took place at the political offices of the democrats situated at their Watergate offices (Welsh, Gene and Rodney, 33). During this scandal, the attorney general John Mitchell was initially opposed to the recordings of the president’s opponents. This is because the action was illegal, and morally wrong. This conviction of John Mitchell is highly similar to that of Harry Caul. In Harrys opinion, spying on people contravenes his religious believes, because it is possible to use the information gathered wrong reasons. According to the views of John Mitchell, the bugging of private conversations was morally wrong, and illegal. Nevertheless, he accepted to participate in the scandal, this is after a lighter proposal was made in regard to wiretapping the private conversations on the president’s opponents. However, despite their convictions, the two still engaged in the vice. Harry Caul agreed to spy on Ann and Mark, while John Mitchell agreed to spy on the president’s opponents.The movie also denotes that it is always difficult for people to produce objects that they collects through illegal means, or as against their moral convictions and believes. Take for instance Harry Caul, he refused to give the information he collected from the private conversations of Mark and Ann. This is because he believed that the director will use the information for wrong purposes (Welsh, Gene and Rodney, 37). However, this was a misjudgment on his part. This is because, in the end, the director died because he was unable to access the information under the possession of Harry Caul. In the case of the Watergate scandal, President Nixon refused to give out the various tapes under his possession. This is because the existence of the tapes would prove his guilt, leading to an impeachment and an end to his political career. However, he was forced to surrender the tapes by the United States Supreme Court. In the case of Harry Caul, unknown people broke into his room, and stole the tapes (The Conversation). These scenes confirm my allegations that a person holding information obtained through illegal means will always refuse to release them. This is because he fears the consequences of releasing such kind of information. Finally, the rise of the American corporate world is depicted in this movie through the actions of the director.During the 1970s, there was a shift in the American corporate identity (The Conversation). Businesses were not commercial identities, but managed and controlled by individuals. Businesses brands were personalized and the corporate leaders managed to influence an individual’s way of life. This aspect is better portrayed by the character of the director. We are not told the identity of this person, and he remains anonymous. This is mostly because of his powerful role in the society. He uses his aide Martin Stett to conduct his affairs, and the two couples Anne and Mark are also afraid of him. The director uses manipulations to have his way. This is a major character trait of corporations operating in America during the 1970s. For instance, Lewis Powell, an influential corporate lawyer, in his letter to the congress, asserted that enacting laws that regulate the corporate industry was an attack to the notion of free enterprise and capitalism (Welsh, Gene and Rodney, 41). It is prudent to denote that this was a period of cold war, pitting USA against the Soviet Union. This was an ideological battle between capitalism and communalism. America supported capitalism, and this was an indirect form of manipulation. Works Cited: Salinger, Lawrence M..Encyclopedia of white-collar & corporate crime. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, 2005. Print. The Conversation.Dir. Francis Coppola.Perf. Harry Caul. The Coppola Company, 1974. DVD. Welsh, James Michael, Gene D. Phillips, and Rodney Hill.The Francis Ford Coppola encyclopedia. Lanham: Scarecrow Press, 2010. Print. Top of Form Bottom of Form Read More