Curtis Perception of Light

The scene that best illustrates the character of George W. Bush is the scene in which Dick Cheney is questioning how probable the possession of weapons of mass destruction are in Iraq. In the scene, Cheney offers the hypothetical situation that if there were a one percent chance of W getting e coli, apparently contracted from the lettuce on his turkey-lettuce-tomato sandwich, would he continue to eat said sandwich? The answer is no, of course not. No one would take the chance of developing e coli, no matter how slim of a chance it was. Cheney then makes the observation that just as W wouldn’t take the one percent chance of getting e coli, they shouldn’t take the one percent chance of Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction, and therefore should invade the country to prevent any disorder; W has taken the bait of Cheney’s fear tactics. And this is the point, this is the most defining characteristic of George W. Bush, of junior, of the minor entity that was our 43rd president. He was always under his father, he was always influenced by fear of failure and disappointing his family, whether he chose to admit to it or not. Throughout the film the light; the intense darkness in his frat days, the bright open light of his office, the cloudy dimmed lighting whenever he meets his father in his study, the light exemplifies his discomfort and fear. He’s in the dark whenever he’s unsure of what he’s doing, when he’s with his father he’s overcome by a cloud of fear, illustrated with the cloudiness of the lighting, particularly whenever we are able to see outside, when he meets with his father. The Mise én Scéne employed in the film regarding his fears and his interaction with people are mostly demonstrated with the use of lighting, and it is this important manipulation with light that allows the viewer to properly view the honest characteristics of George W. Bush.