Washington, D.C.

Both of the movies that I watched about Washington, D.C led me to the conclusion that no matter where people are in that city, they are always on camera. The city has very high security and the citizens are always on camera.

Enemy Of the State

This movie demonstrates the side of Washington, D.C. that the public does not see. Although we know that there are cameras all around us, this movie took the surveillance to an extreme. It showed how every move we make is being monitored by a camera. The main character in the movie, played by Will Smith, has a taping of a murder that a very important politician wants. Smith's character, Robert Dean, is unaware that he has the tape and as the movie progresses his life gets invaded by the NSA. They monitor Dean's life with satellite surveillance, by placing cameras in his house, taping into his phone calls, and placing tracking devices on his car, pants, pen, watch, and shoes. The NSA even goes as far as stopping all of Dean's bank accounts and exploiting him in the newspaper. They do this by looking back into his records as far as when he was in college. As this is happening his life is falling apart completely including his marriage, career and life in general.

A Few Good Men

This movie is about a lawyer who is defending two marines that killed another marine named Santiago. The reason they killed Santiago was because they were issued a Code Red, although the intent was not to kill the man. This means that they were ordered to go teach this kid a lesson by beating him up. In the minds of the two marines they did not do anything wrong because they were doing what they were told which is their job. After the lawyer, Tom Cruise, has gathered enough information about the case the court room drama begins. The movie finally ends with a dramatic confrontation between the two main characters, the lawyer and the Col Nathan Jessup, in the court room. This movie did not portray the city as full of surveillance like Enemy of the State. It portrayed the marines and the court system.

The security in A Few Good Men was demonstrated all throughout the movie. The characters always have to announce themselves and offer some kind of identification to prove who they are. There is also a lot of security during the court room scenes because there are police officers always present.

A connection that I made between the two movies was that both movies gave the impression that if you do not have a lot of power then you have a low rank. For example, in A Few Good Men, there is a part in the movie where Demi Moore's character and the lawyer are talking right before they go into court for the last time. Moore tells the lawyer that if he thinks for any reason Col Jessup will not confess to what he did than the lawyer should just back off and let it go. If he does not back off he could get into a lot of trouble. Basically, the lawyer does not have enough power and authority to overcome the Col.

This is shown in Enemy of the State when the power that the government has is used against the citizens multiple times. This power is used against any one who comes in contact with the tape of the murder. The first guy to come in contact with the tape gets chased through the city until he gets run over by a fire truck, the second guy gets blackmailed and his whole life is ruined.

Washington D.C Fact:
An aspect of Washington that was portrayed in Enemy of the State is all of the high security and surveillance. It has been proven that a person can be caught on camera as much as 300 times daily. There are cameras everywhere we go. It gives me the feeling like there is always somebody watching. A line from the movie that really stuck out in my mind is when Brill says to Robert Dean "The only privacy left is in your head."

It seems that lately the media print articles with false or exaggerated information. It is hard for me to know what is the truth and what is not. I am making this connection to Enemy of the State because there is a part in the movie where Robert Dean finds an article about himself that is mostly false information. This was an attempt by the men following Dean to blackmail him. When doing my research I found some information on a newspaper that prints articles that are legitimate which is The Washington Post. This newspaper sticks out in most people's minds for the exploitation of the Watergate Scandal. I am not sure that an exploitation like that will happen again anytime soon because too many people can be shut up easily by being paid off.

Las Vegas

After watching Ocean's Eleven and Vegas Vacation I realized that I should not " judge a book by its cover" because people and places are not always what they appear. To judge a city, or any thng for that matter, by the way it is portrayed in a movie is not very intelligent. These movies gave me two completely different views of the same city. I noticed that both movies included stereotypical aspects of the city while also portraying the idea that you can be anyone you want when you are in Vegas.

When people think about Las Vegas they most often think of all of the gambling, money, prostitution, quick marriages, drinking, bright lights, the strip, and the heat. But that's not all there is to Vegas. For instance, Vegas Vic, the neon cowboy is the world's largest neon sign, and the famous Welcome to Vegas sign was created in 1959. Las Vegas also has many other forms of entertainment besides casinos, for instance, there is the Las Vegas Art Museum, and the Las Vegas Museum of History along with many others. There is also Mt Charleston for people who enjoy outdoor activities. Other forms of entertainment include sporting events, spas, trail rides, and golfing.

Vegas Vacation

This movie portrays the city as an over-exaggerated version of what people stereotypically think of Las Vegas. I noticed that the characters in the movie are tempted to buy the services of the hotel. For example, in the beginning of the movie the first thing the receptionist at the hotel tells Chevy Chase is that the hotel has a wonderful dry cleaning service. This prominently happens in big hotels such as the ones in Las Vegas. The characters are also very tempted to gamble because they have to pass through the casino to get to their room. It shows the exaggeration of places such as the Mirage. Other exaggerations in the movie were the bright lights all around, the temptation to gamble, and the entertainment.

Ocean's Eleven

This movie portrays the part of Las Vegas not many people think about. Instead of showing the bright lights and entertainment it shows more of what lies beneath. Aspects in this movie that are portrayed are how expensive people dress, the high security of casinos, the expensive restaurants, and the power that comes with money. The most emphasis in this movie is put on the high security level of casinos and how casino owners will go to any length to insure a smooth running casino.

In Vegas Vacation, Chevy Chase wants to renew his wedding vows. He persuades his wife that the best place to do that would be in Vegas. The average number of weddings in Vegas per day is 315. It is very easy to get married in Vegas. All you need is $55 in cash and one form of ID. Unlike Oregon where you have to wait three days, there is no waiting period for a marriage license in Las Vegas.

In my research I discovered that a new hotel is being opened on the Las Vegas strip. I wanted to mention this because it is the first hotel to open on the strip in 3 years. The name of this new hotel is The Pallazo who's sister hotel is The Venetian. When I read about this new fancy hotel it made me connect to the movie Ocean's Eleven because that movie was all about the big money, the expensive restaurants, and biggest and best hotels.

There are many things about Las Vegas, Nevada that I don't know because most of the attention and facts about Las Vegas have to do with strictly the casinos and the strip. The historical parts of Vegas are not mentioned as often. Such as how it used to be a railroad town in the early 1900's or how it was originally apart of Arizona territory until 1867 when it detached to join Nevada.