Monday, January 17, 2005

Monitoring the monitors of the monitors

Last night, Cloud and I settled down to watch one of our favourite films: Enemy of the State. Yes, it is a rather frothy piece of work - a Bruckheimer production no less; in fact, it's a Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer production. Nevertheless, it raises interesting issues about both privacy and security, especially in light of what has happened since 9/11.

It can be all too easy to criticise populist dramas for their conveniently 'happy' endings, to focus on the resolution being the destruction or discovery of the rogue element rather than of the system as a whole. Doing so lets us lose sight of what such work can do in just putting such matters on the agenda. Eneny of the State is an effective thriller... and no less enjoyable for being just that.

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