The Truth is Out There
I love a good conspiracy theory. Especially one’s recounted with verve by the likes of Cosmo Kramer and Newman (did we ever get a first or last name?). To be fair, whether there was a second spitter on the scene, having Keith Hernandez present in real-time to add another point of view--and therefore muddy the conspiratorial waters—did add a layer of complexity that I believe is too often missing in the average conspiracy theory. That delicate point of truth that is totally plausible in its association with the inner workings of how societies are run.
‘Warren Beatty is taller than I thought,’ I kept telling myself. ‘He’s got a big head, but man he’s tall.’ How relieved I was when the recruiter from the top-secret Parallax Corporation asked him how tall he was to confirm my suspicions. Just as objectors were being watched and eliminated, so was I watching Alan J. Pakula’s The Parallax View.
There was time in U.S. history when revelatory change was afoot. When the tumult of wars both abroad and on home soil, beckoned for a new American order. Three distinctive leaders rose out of the political melée, voices that spoke a language that the majority heard, understood and wanted. In short order all three were assassinated; one in 1963 and two in 1968. As Don McLean sang, that’s when the music died and the United States of America began on its path of self-destruction. Hindsight is 20/20 and all, but no crystal ball is necessary in explaining why John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were eliminated. History shows that every time a voice of change rises up, a voice to truly make this country a shining city on a hill, they are quickly silenced. And in silencing them the hope of the people is destroyed. Of the politicians murdered in the 100 minutes of the film The Parallax View, they ranged in persona. One was a wholesome WASP, the other a good ol’ boy; men traditionally perfectly poised to be leaders of this fractious nation. That they are denied the ability to unite, is case in point there exists in the United States a special force that indeed pulls the strings outside of elected bodies.
From the opening minutes to the closing frame, the theme of The Parallax View is that greater shadowy forces within our sight control the rule of law and direction of these United States. They are shadowy yet conduct business in big shiny office buildings for all to enter. They’re your protectors and advocates, taxpayer paid officials who’ve passed personality tests deeming them sufficiently psychopathic. They’re the line of men who sit on comfy leather chairs before the great seal, conducting hearings to make sure you believe what they want you to believe. It’s a vast and intricate network, made to manipulate and keep you towing the citizen line. Buy this, go there, make sure this is how you sound. Like Beatty’s Joe, at first you’re meant to not believe the warning’s of their presence, but after too many seemingly coincidental events, you start to get a little suspicious. You start snooping, searching for answers, no longer asking but doing, and that’s when they have you. Now you’ve seen them, know you won’t ever again.
I believe the death of Abraham Lincoln was intended. John Wilkes Booth might have pulled the trigger, but he was in that theatre for a reason. I don’t believe his motivation was that as relayed by J.P. Prewitt in Zoolander, I think it has more to do with what the British musician The Streets rapped: ‘every time someone good comes about, you American’s just shoot them.’
