Woodall State of Play

For democracy to work properly, there must be a solid level of privacy for individuals to make their own choices without feeling pressure from opposing sides. Democracy is based on giving a voice to every individual with the society, but that voice is tainted when its individuality is taken away after the person’s privacy is undermined; people begin changing their opinions based on who is watching them. This leads to vast amounts corruption in the system, and the entire democratic ideology becomes disregarded.

In State of Play, the scene in which Congressman Stephen Collins explains the whole situation between him, Sonya Baker, and PointeCorps to reporters at the Washington Globe. While investigating PointeCorps to prove it is acting as a monopoly of private defense companies, PointeCorps infiltrates his committee in the form of research assistant Sonya Baker. This marks the first time privacy is destroyed; PointeCorps is destroying Collins’ privacy to hold such investigations. After Collins determines that Baker is acting peculiar, he hires an old friend to follow her, signifying the second time a person’s privacy is destroyed. This disregard for privacy on both Collins and PointeCorps leads to the deaths of four people, which could have been easily avoided if PointeCorps and Collins had simply respected the rights and privacy of others.

The scene itself tells the audience just how convoluted the situation becomes when privacy is disrespected. First, all the shots within the scene happen very fast; no shot runs longer than five seconds. This gives the audience a sense of chaos and disorients them, showing how complicated and hectic it has become. Next, the audio of Collins speaking is often times jumbled up and overlapped, representing how much had to be explained in order for the reporters to understand completely. Finally, the shots of Collins explaining the situation are interrupted from time to time by shots of Robert Bingham putting together a large gun and dressing in his army uniform. This symbolizes the ultimate consequences of destroying privacy within the democratic system—death of innocent individuals.