As we learned in class, ideologies are systems of popular/common ideas within a
society. In the movie Fair Game alone,
we see several popular ideologies portrayed.
Patriarchy
The most obvious ideology shown throughout the movie is patriarchy. According to the online Oxford Dictionary, patriarchy
is “a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are
largely excluded from it.” In most Hollywood films, men are spotlighted as the
intelligent CIA operatives while women generally take the roles of the “sexy
secretaries” or “damsels in distress”. Although director Doug Liman’s other films
(Bourne Identity, etc.) tend to fall into the patriarchal ideology, Fair Game both emphasizes and challenges
the idea of patriarchy.
Being a woman in a highly male-populated occupation, Valerie
Plame Wilson had to prove that she was mentally and physically strong enough
to hold her own and be successful. In her autobiography Fair Game, she discusses a lot of context and background
information. She didn’t become a CIA agent overnight. Before she could become an
agent, she had to endure intense training for several months. During this
training period Valerie herself observed several instances where patriarchy was portrayed. Regarding
fellow women working around her, she wrote: “…female case officers were either
former secretaries who doggedly worked their way out from behind their desks to
field work, or the wives of case officers who got tired of being the only ones
at home with the children while their husbands were out having all the fun
being spymasters. There were a rare few who did not fit into these categories,
but these older, tough-as-nails women who had triumphed through the entrenched
discrimination scared me (Wilson, Page 10).”
Yet, being an intense covert agent for the CIA, Valerie
Plame was a different story. Although senators accused Plame of being a “glorified
secretary for the CIA”, she was indeed a legitimate spy who challenged the
patriarchal ideology and claims that she is “really good with an AK-47″ (Vanity
Fair interview).
Notice the male to female ratio in this clip from Fair Game.
Democracy
Another dominant ideology that makes its appearance throughout the film is democracy. Democracy is based on majority rule. Thus making the government (elected officials) and the majority vote dominant. This is portayed in both the movie and autobiography of Valerie Plame Wilson. The government proves its dominance when it leaks Valerie's identity after a "citizen" (who happened to her
husband Joe Wilson) writes “What I Didn’t Find in Africa.”
Another example from the autobiography states: "On August 1, 2007, Judge Jones ruled in the GOVERNMENT'S FAVOR. The court's decision stated that 'information concerning Wilson's pre-2002 employment for the CIA (if any) is properly classified, has never been declassified, and was not otherwise officially acknowledged by the CIA.' (Wilson, Page 306)."
The Government proves its superiority in the court trial. Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson lost the court trial, while Government officials were allowed to go free after a lighter punishment. "On July 2, 2007, President Bush commuted Scooter Libby's thirty-month prison sentence. Libby must still pay the $250,000 fine, but will serve no jail time (Wilson, Page 306)."
The following clip from Fair Game shows Joe Wilson's powerful speech (featured in both Valerie's autobiography and in the movie) regarding democracy.
The following clip from Fair Game shows Joe Wilson's powerful speech (featured in both Valerie's autobiography and in the movie) regarding democracy.
White Privilege/White Savior
On more than one occasion in Fair Game, the white privilege ideology takes charge. In reference to the clip showing the lack of women in the office, notice how many men of color were present. Although this ideology isn't necessarily meant to show up and its presence is subtle, there is no denying that the white race dominates. The white savior concept takes form several times as well. Defined perfectly by David Siorta, this concept is known as "the catalog of films that features white people single-handedly rescuing people of color from their plight. These story lines insinuate that people of color have no ability to rescue themselves. This both makes white audiences feel good about themselves by portraying them as benevolent messiahs."
Applying this ideology of white supremacy, Fair Game focuses more on the idea that the white Americans (specifically Valerie and Joe) are entering Iraq and Niger to rescue the natives of those countries rather than the fact that we were in the middle of a war with Iraq. The white privilege ideology is all about framing.
The clip below is a perfect example of white savior. However, the "savior" in this case never showed up.
Ethnocentrism
In class we learned that ethnocentrism is the "belief that one’s own culture, nation, or ethnicity is superior to all others." With the war in Iraq being a key element in Fair Game, ethnocentrism played a big role not only in the movie, but also in real life during the time period.
The following clip is a wonderful example of ethnocentrism. While at a dinner party, Joe and Valerie's friend makes a racist remark about "two guys in turbans" on an airplane, assuming that anyone in a turban must be a terrorist.
