Lessons from the movie; "Enemy of the State", then and now.

In the late 1990s Enemy of the State was seen as entertainment pushing a socially unaccepted but very likely a possibility. That link above is a great reference and sites other real parallels.

Truth was, we already had Echelon and Keyhole, not to mention the year before this movie was released, something called Carnivore was let loose. Later came other related programs and projects like PRISM.

These have been discussed on ATS feel free to search.

I felt it was a good point in time, to review and reflect on his older movie that gave us a glimpse of how things may change if we aren't more involved.

Where is the line, between personal space or privacy vs government intrusion and misappropriation?

Now let's jump to today.

Look at the drastically advanced differences, today we accept on a daily basis, everything and more than that which was a forewarning in that film.

Other older members may remember, times were different pre 2000s. This comfort with smart devices, is just waiting for an Enemy of the State 2.0 to show itself.

There's also a parallel between the surveillance side of the movie, but overlooked may be the deepstate aspect. Political corruption is obviously hinted at.

Back then it may have been dismissed, as Ebert did as paranoid, but the paranoia mentioned wasn't, it was good trade craft.

Wondering what my point may be, I'll cut to the chase, having rewatched this movie, it got me thinking about the dual message it sends.

One of domestic surveillance and the other about deepstate activities and their willingness, to flaunt it openly without fear of reprisal.

The more things change, the more they stay the same?

a reply to: ADVISOR

You are absolutely right to have seen that movie as a warning to America. And naturally there were masses of people who just took it a face value, seeing it only as a work of fiction rather than a fictional rendition of reality. There are any number of other movies that have given us warning and like Enemy, were taken by most as only entertainment. However I will not point them out at this time because Enemy really does deserve to stand alone in this discussion.

a reply to: ADVISOR

Fun fact, Jon Voight's characters birthday was 9-11 in the movie. You see it for a second.

It was a great movie all on it's own, probably one of the first movies to introduce the concept of a "deep state" to the general public, along with "Conspiracy Theory" with Mel Gibson touching on the MKUltra mythos. At least the first movies to introduce the topic to me, being a relative youngster at the time. Back then it was hard to believe and yet believable at the same time that someone could just erase your life so easily. Nowadays, it's almost prophetic that a government/company could just change your digital life so easily and nobody would bat an eye to the info displayed from a "source". I really need to rewatch both just for a refresher.

Remember when...?

Yeah kinda difficult trying to forget about it now.

Only time will tell, are y'all paying attention yet?

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