Militarism, Misanthropy and the Body Politic: - Brunel University
Militarism, Misanthropy and the Body Politic: - Brunel University
Militarism, Misanthropy and the Body Politic: - Brunel University
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EnterText 6.2<br />
The second chamber, a red hallway with a mysterious graphic of an eye over a<br />
crescent, resembling a schematic for rams horns, <strong>and</strong> a keypunch, which, like <strong>the</strong> Arabian<br />
Nights, requires a secret password. “It’s locked, sir,” says an Air Force officer, while <strong>the</strong><br />
president repeats, “Open <strong>the</strong> door.” Before us st<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> vertical strips of metal from <strong>the</strong><br />
glass doors, <strong>and</strong> as <strong>the</strong> president’s party moves down <strong>the</strong> ramp, <strong>the</strong> camera floats on<br />
toward <strong>the</strong> next chamber. It is unclear whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> camera moves straight or pans <strong>and</strong> tilts<br />
down slightly. This ambiguity suggests multiple points of view—<strong>the</strong> president’s, David’s<br />
<strong>and</strong> Connie’s, or perhaps some o<strong>the</strong>r-worldly presence, watching <strong>and</strong> waiting.<br />
The third chamber. A long corridor seems to stretch for blocks. The tunnel of<br />
white light has one walkway down <strong>the</strong> middle; on both sides st<strong>and</strong> workers outfitted in<br />
biochemical containment suits next to workstations that for some reason lack table <strong>and</strong><br />
chairs. The space is absurd. To make it to <strong>the</strong> bathroom would take forever. As <strong>the</strong> party<br />
passes <strong>the</strong> stations, <strong>the</strong> visual joke is that <strong>the</strong> work sites are low-tech ra<strong>the</strong>r than high-tech<br />
—here’s somebody cobbling a shoe, here’s your muffler repair man. The workers’<br />
research equipment ties into <strong>the</strong> Morse code/telegraph/low technology motif. The first<br />
POVs to <strong>the</strong> right are ambiguous. Who looks? Is it Connie, who squints, or is it David<br />
Levinson, who removes his sunglasses? A reverse shot of <strong>the</strong> party shows <strong>the</strong> group, out<br />
of focus, moving slowly toward <strong>the</strong> camera as if <strong>the</strong>y were thous<strong>and</strong>s of miles away.<br />
Why? Who’s looking? Oh. We see Okun, <strong>and</strong> he’s trying to make a decision whe<strong>the</strong>r he<br />
should st<strong>and</strong> his ground or make a break for it in <strong>the</strong> opposite direction. The exchange<br />
between Okun <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> President is more complicated than in <strong>the</strong> previous scene. The<br />
meeting is composed of over-<strong>the</strong>-shoulder shots, a dolly forward, <strong>and</strong> characters who<br />
walk into an in-focus depth of field. Yet this is not as spectacular as <strong>the</strong> next scene, which<br />
Carol Vernallis: Independence Day 96