The logic of such a villain in such a time as ours is inescapable from a certain political perspective. The rule of moviemaking is three: repeat a theme, an image, an idea three times in three different contexts to get the message across. Finally, he must be called a “patriot” several times so that we get the point. As an added detail, his last name, “Oerstadt,” must suggest a Dutch Afrikaaner lineage that would support the implicit premise of apartheid racism. Instead, the terrorist must be white because the terrorist who set off the Oklahoma City bombing was white.Īdditionally, the terrorist has to be someone who dresses in military casual, tried to join the army, and prominently displays a “SUPPORT THE TROOPS” sticker on his desk drawer. Thus, the terrorist can never be a Muslim who is blowing up American troops and innocent (9/11 or Iraqi) civilians, because that would be politically awkward. But for Hollywood, reality cannot interfere with ideology. This sort of thing is in the news everyday. The movie’s perfect example of this is the terrorist who uses a vehicular IED directed against American troops. Such plots have nothing in common with the daily news and show Hollywood’s obsession to project guilt on the United States for actions committed by others. Similarly, the latest “ Mission Impossible” demonstrates that the spread of weapons of mass destruction is not through Pakistan and North Korea, as is well-documented, but is actually conducted by rogue elements in the American government working through Crusader elements in the Vatican. This deceit works about as successfully as it did in movies like “ Timeline” (2003), and “ The Jacket” (2005) which are also supposedly about time travel, but whose underlying points are that America is responsible for the spread of weapons of mass destruction (“Timeline”), and that returning American soldiers have been psychologically damaged by their supposed crimes in Iraq (“The Jacket”). In order to catch the terrorist, Agent Carlin must join forces with the FBI and use a machine called “Snow White,” which is described as the same spying technology the army uses in Iraq and which, Shanti informs him, “can access any surveillance technology available to any government agency.” The whole sequence reeks of Patriot Act dementia, which, together with the repeated reference to Oklahoma City, government neglect of New Orleans, and the war in Iraq, combine to overwhelm the dramatic premise and makes it obvious that the movie is trying hard to disguise its political attacks under cover of an action movie. The person who does the murdering is terrorist Carroll Oerstadt ( James Caviezel) who blows up a ferry in New Orleans harbor containing 543 American servicemen and their families, all of whom, remarkably, are hugging and smiling in slow motion up until the moment of their deaths. “Déjà vu” is about ATF agent Doug Carlin’s ( Denzel Washington) quest through time to save the beautiful and dead Claire Kuchever ( Paula Patton) from being murdered.
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