Monday, August 24, 2009
Little Brother vs. Body of Lies
As I progress through Doctorow's "Little Brother" I am repeatedly reminded of Ridley Scott's "Body of Lies" (2008) in which a young CIA agent is forced to go against "The Company's" entrenched doctrine regarding espionage and interrogation in order to save his and others' lives and respect the sovereignty of the nations that he works in. I don't wish to equate the film to the book, but the way in which Russel Crowe's and Leonardo Dicaprio's describe the modern methods of terrorism is striking when juxtaposed with Marcus's tactics of confusion and deception. The character Ed Hoffman noted the adaptability and intelligence of an "enemy" that refused to allow itself to be surveilled: "Our enemy has realized that they are fighting guys from the future. Now, ahem, it is brilliant as it is infuriating. If you live like it's the past, and you behave like it's the past then guys from the future find it very hard to see you. If you throw away your cell phone, shut down your e-mail pass all your instructions face-to-face, hand-to-hand turn your back on technology and just disappear into the crowd No flags. No uniforms. You got your basic grunts on the ground there. They're looking going, "Who is it we're fighting?" In a situation like this, your friends dress just like your enemies and your enemies dress like your friends. What I need you to fully understand is that these people, they do not wanna negotiate. Not at all." Now Marcus doesn't turn his back on technology by any stretch of the imagination, but he does it to gain anonymity and a position of maneuverability. Anywho, I was just reminded of this film and now I'm a little curious as to which genre I would place it. Enemy of the State also comes to mind but I digress...
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