Because this scandal took place only a few years ago, our team has struggled to find the truth behind what actually happened. We used the books written by Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson as a primary source for the truth. However, upon opening Valerie's book we realized nearly everything she had written was censored by the government. There is still so much that has been covered up by the government that Plamegate still remains a confusing topic for many. In an attempt to gather more accurate information, our team stumbled upon a Daily Show segment with Jon Stewart (shown below). Evidently we aren't the only ones still confused about what happened.
Mandi
West:
My
first time watching Fair Game, I found it to be very interesting. Nothing makes
a movie more appealing than the combination of scandal, drama, love, and action.
But as our group went into depth and researched the movie, I found more
interest in how the director portrayed real life events. Did many of the elements
of conspiracy, scandal, or love affairs accurately narrate the truth? In my
opinion no, but they sure don’t hurt anyone on the Hollywood scale. The
director did a great job of leaving out certain information to leave it to
interpretation to the audience to make any situation more extreme than it
really it is. Another tactic he used was focusing in on elements in a way that
over exaggerated the importance of some aspects of the story. For example,
there was much emphasis on the love life and their struggles but I believe that
not to be pertinent to the Plamegate event. But in Hollywood, nothing sells
more than a romance that encounters problems but then lives” happily ever after.” In the end, there
was a lot of truth to the film. The director just used many techniques to embellish
the real-life accounts to make it a movie interesting enough to gain sells at
the box office. In the end, I’ve learned that you shouldn’t believe everything
you see in the movies. Someone is always on an agenda.
Stacey Worster:
I am very happy with the film choice this time around; comparing this film to the experience I had analyzing Schindler’s List last semester is night and day. It may be the years the films were directed and produced, but I feel as if my group dug deep to pull apart the mixed messages brought to life in the movie Fair Game. The first time watching it I had no problem staying awake, although I was confused with all the details and plot turns. Discussing the film with my group members put together the pieces I was struggling with. The part that was most interesting to me was the way certain KEY characters were left out of the movie, and how certain people were depicted. I enjoyed this film and have learned a lot from this project. Great way to end the semester!
Kori Slager:
I'll be honest, I was pretty excited when we were assigned Fair Game for our project. But that's because I thought the movie might be about baseball. It wasn't. The first time I watched Fair Game I had no idea what any of it meant. It took another four or five times for me to even have a clue as to what was happening. I'm surprised I had never once in my 21 years heard of Valerie Plame or Joe Wilson. It truly scares me how much control our government has and how easily it can cover things up. To celebrate finishing up this project, my fiance took me to see the movie 42. As the movie began I saw the words, "this film is based on true events" and immediately my mind began wondering what was left out of the movie or how it was framed in a certain light. I don't think I will ever watch a "historical-based" movie the same, ever again. When I thought of how I would rate Fair Game I took into consideration that it was fairly accurate and was based on an intriguing topic. However, I was extremely confused when I watched the movie and, like Jon Stewart, am also still confused about what actually went on within the scandal.
Kelsey Schwab:
Who did what on this project:
Mandi West: Title picture, timeline, Joe Wilson section, read book Politics of Truth, video edit and blog edit.
Kelsey Schwab: Valerie Plame Wilson section, Doug Liman section, read book Fair Game, cut and edited the video clips from the DVD, ideologies tab, and checked each tab.
Kori Slager: Covered the Richard Armitage and Robert Novak sections, figured out times where the clips needed to be edited, helped cover similarities and differences information. Covered text vs subtext information, media concepts and theories information and the journalism ethics information, and edited each tab.
Stacey Worster: Photoshopped our self portraits, Judith Miller section, Scooter Libby section, conclusion page and the sources page.
Whole Group: Really good acting.
Overall I give this movie:
Stacey Worster:
I am very happy with the film choice this time around; comparing this film to the experience I had analyzing Schindler’s List last semester is night and day. It may be the years the films were directed and produced, but I feel as if my group dug deep to pull apart the mixed messages brought to life in the movie Fair Game. The first time watching it I had no problem staying awake, although I was confused with all the details and plot turns. Discussing the film with my group members put together the pieces I was struggling with. The part that was most interesting to me was the way certain KEY characters were left out of the movie, and how certain people were depicted. I enjoyed this film and have learned a lot from this project. Great way to end the semester!
Overall I give this movie:
Kori Slager:
I'll be honest, I was pretty excited when we were assigned Fair Game for our project. But that's because I thought the movie might be about baseball. It wasn't. The first time I watched Fair Game I had no idea what any of it meant. It took another four or five times for me to even have a clue as to what was happening. I'm surprised I had never once in my 21 years heard of Valerie Plame or Joe Wilson. It truly scares me how much control our government has and how easily it can cover things up. To celebrate finishing up this project, my fiance took me to see the movie 42. As the movie began I saw the words, "this film is based on true events" and immediately my mind began wondering what was left out of the movie or how it was framed in a certain light. I don't think I will ever watch a "historical-based" movie the same, ever again. When I thought of how I would rate Fair Game I took into consideration that it was fairly accurate and was based on an intriguing topic. However, I was extremely confused when I watched the movie and, like Jon Stewart, am also still confused about what actually went on within the scandal.
Overall I give this movie:
Kelsey Schwab:
I literally had no idea what Fair Game was going to
be about so naturally I didn't begin the project with too much enthusiasm. I
fell asleep after the first viewing of the movie, which didn't make the
situation any better. But I was determined to finish the show and learn enough
so that I could be able to analyze it for the project. As a result, I have
watched Fair Game a total of seven times since we started the project. Being a
sucker for romantic movies about relationships, I definitely gained an interest
in Valerie and Joe's relationship right off. On the other hand, the whole
political side of the story took a longer time to appreciate. I was assigned to
read her autobiography, which opened my eyes to the political scandal of it all
rather than just the Hollywood love. Much like Kori, I too am so surprised I
have never even heard of Valerie or Joe. It's crazy to think what other
scandals have been covered up from the public eye. This project was by far my
favorite because it will affect me forever. Being an avid movie-goer I will now
always have a more critical eye when watching a history-based film.
Overall I give this movie:
Who did what on this project:
Mandi West: Title picture, timeline, Joe Wilson section, read book Politics of Truth, video edit and blog edit.
Kelsey Schwab: Valerie Plame Wilson section, Doug Liman section, read book Fair Game, cut and edited the video clips from the DVD, ideologies tab, and checked each tab.
Kori Slager: Covered the Richard Armitage and Robert Novak sections, figured out times where the clips needed to be edited, helped cover similarities and differences information. Covered text vs subtext information, media concepts and theories information and the journalism ethics information, and edited each tab.
Stacey Worster: Photoshopped our self portraits, Judith Miller section, Scooter Libby section, conclusion page and the sources page.
Whole Group: Really good acting.
