- Sep 22, 2013
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The 3 American films representative of democratic values are not traditional political films (e.g., The American President, Clear and Present Danger, Lions for Lambs, JFK, etc.).
No, these 3 films are about the 'metaphysics' of democracy.
The films are Spy Game (Tony Scott), The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Marc Webb), and Fresh (Boaz Yakin).
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1. Spy Game (Tony Scott) --- starring Robert Redford and Brad Pitt
Plot: Retiring CIA agent Nathan Muir (Redford) recalls his training of Tom Bishop (Pitt) while working against agency politics to free him from his Chinese captors.
As we see Muir's flashbacks of Bishop's training days while Muir presents Bishop's odd secret files during a special CIA inquiry meeting, we realize that American intelligence involves a great deal of democratic 'engineering' and even conspiracies, and Bishop must come to terms with the fact that working for the CIA requires adjusting idealism with practical sacrifices.
We start to think about why American intelligence-work in the post-WWII landscape (e.g., Israel-Palestine) requires much 'machination.'
2. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Marc Webb) --- starring Andrew Garfield, Jamie Foxx, Emma Stone, Dane DeHaan, and Paul Giamatti (with Chris Cooper and Sally Field)
Plot: When New York is put under siege by Oscorp, it is up to Spider-Man to save the city he swore to protect as well as his loved ones.
The science-firm Oscorp has developed questionable 'methods' for genetic 'enhancement' leading to the genesis of monstrous abominations adopted by emotionally vulnerable individuals who morph into 'super-villains' (Electro, Goblin, and Rhino).
As the heroic photojournalist Spider-Man (Peter Parker) wrestles with these super-villains while trying to prepare for a life after graduation and his relationship with his girlfriend Gwen, he learns about the values and struggles involved with defense of democracy in a landscape confounded by ambition, narcissism, and mad-science.
3. Fresh (Boaz Yakin) --- starring Sean Nelson, Giancarlo Esposito, and Samuel L. Jackson
Plot: Death and violence anger a 12-year-old drug courier (a secret chess-prodigy) in an American inner-city, who sets his employers against each other as if they were chess pieces, but his intentions are noble (even if he is ominously very focused).
The young man's name is 'Fresh' and he is 'mentored' by his chess-guru and alcoholic father who urges him to apply his wits to real life. Fresh sets out to confound rival members of a nefarious drug-operation so he can help those he cares about, but Fresh learns that being a hero in a 'modern America' may require a dose of prayer and a dose of methodology...
All 3 of these films are entertaining and provocative and stimulating. They may not be legendary films symbolic of democracy (e.g., Alan J. Pakula's All the President's Men), but they are indeed modernism-symbolic films which invite us to ask exciting questions such as, "How is democracy coordinated with crime/terror in the modern world?"
These 3 iconic films are terrific classroom-education tools for the modern teacher (arguably)!
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No, these 3 films are about the 'metaphysics' of democracy.
The films are Spy Game (Tony Scott), The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Marc Webb), and Fresh (Boaz Yakin).
====
1. Spy Game (Tony Scott) --- starring Robert Redford and Brad Pitt
Plot: Retiring CIA agent Nathan Muir (Redford) recalls his training of Tom Bishop (Pitt) while working against agency politics to free him from his Chinese captors.
As we see Muir's flashbacks of Bishop's training days while Muir presents Bishop's odd secret files during a special CIA inquiry meeting, we realize that American intelligence involves a great deal of democratic 'engineering' and even conspiracies, and Bishop must come to terms with the fact that working for the CIA requires adjusting idealism with practical sacrifices.
We start to think about why American intelligence-work in the post-WWII landscape (e.g., Israel-Palestine) requires much 'machination.'
2. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Marc Webb) --- starring Andrew Garfield, Jamie Foxx, Emma Stone, Dane DeHaan, and Paul Giamatti (with Chris Cooper and Sally Field)
Plot: When New York is put under siege by Oscorp, it is up to Spider-Man to save the city he swore to protect as well as his loved ones.
The science-firm Oscorp has developed questionable 'methods' for genetic 'enhancement' leading to the genesis of monstrous abominations adopted by emotionally vulnerable individuals who morph into 'super-villains' (Electro, Goblin, and Rhino).
As the heroic photojournalist Spider-Man (Peter Parker) wrestles with these super-villains while trying to prepare for a life after graduation and his relationship with his girlfriend Gwen, he learns about the values and struggles involved with defense of democracy in a landscape confounded by ambition, narcissism, and mad-science.
3. Fresh (Boaz Yakin) --- starring Sean Nelson, Giancarlo Esposito, and Samuel L. Jackson
Plot: Death and violence anger a 12-year-old drug courier (a secret chess-prodigy) in an American inner-city, who sets his employers against each other as if they were chess pieces, but his intentions are noble (even if he is ominously very focused).
The young man's name is 'Fresh' and he is 'mentored' by his chess-guru and alcoholic father who urges him to apply his wits to real life. Fresh sets out to confound rival members of a nefarious drug-operation so he can help those he cares about, but Fresh learns that being a hero in a 'modern America' may require a dose of prayer and a dose of methodology...
All 3 of these films are entertaining and provocative and stimulating. They may not be legendary films symbolic of democracy (e.g., Alan J. Pakula's All the President's Men), but they are indeed modernism-symbolic films which invite us to ask exciting questions such as, "How is democracy coordinated with crime/terror in the modern world?"
These 3 iconic films are terrific classroom-education tools for the modern teacher (arguably)!
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