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ordinary reasons for the deaths, something does not seem right. He decides to
investigate more, at first thinking that maybe his suspicions were wrong, after
all. Just then, however, he learns that his female acquaintance in the photo
has died. Believing that this occurrence cannot be a simple coincidence, he
takes up the case in earnest.
With his editor s begrudging approval, Frady sets off in search of clues.
Like many films of its time, various car chases and foot chases dominate much
of the action. Eventually, Frady begins to form a theory about the deaths of
the people in the photo. He reasons that it may have to do with something,
or someone, that all of the victims saw at the scene of the assassination.
Perhaps it was something that seemed innocuous at the time, he thinks. He
concludes that the group may have unknowingly witnessed a clue pointing
to conspiracy.
As the tension mounts, Frady meets with another person in the photo on
a yacht. Despite elaborate attempts to keep this rendezvous secret, they are
discovered. The yacht is blown up, killing the other man.
Because of the size of the explosion, people think that Frady was also killed.
This allows him to assume a new identity and to go undercover in pursuit of a
puzzling lead. He has come across a company called the Parallax Corporation,
and he thinks that it is somehow involved in the string of deaths. More than
that, however, Frady soon comes to believe that the company is involved in
recruiting and training assassins.
After assuming a false identity, Frady contacts the Parallax Corporation,
pretending to be looking for a job. Eventually, he is contacted by a sinister
company agent who invites him to join the organization for training.
Frady reports to the company s West coast office, which is situated in an
ordinary high-rise office building. Within the company offices, however, Frady
submits to an extraordinary training session. In a scene reminiscent of the
96 Conspiracy Theory in Film, Television, and Politics
brainwashing segment of The Manchurian Candidate, Frady is bombarded
with images and sound in rapid succession. The session seems to be aimed at
manipulating the trainee for some sinister mission. Yet, the first session ends
without incident and Frady leaves the building to await further instructions
at a later time.
As he is leaving, however, Frady sees a man he recognizes from the myste-
rious photograph. In the photo, the man was wearing a waiter s uniform, but
his appearance outside the Parallax building causes Frady to think the man
was not simply a waiter. Frady immediately suspects that the man is a Parallax
operative and follows him. Eventually, Frady figures out that the man has
placed a bomb on a plane carrying another senator, but he figures out a way
to thwart the new assassination attempt without giving himself away.
Before he can make much more progress with his investigation, however,
the Parallax Corporation completes its own investigation of Frady and dis-
covers that he has used a fake identity. Although Frady tries to cover up his
deception with another fabricated story, the company s suspicions have been
aroused.
Frady slips past Parallax personnel following him and instead follows other
Parallax operatives to a huge indoor arena where a rehearsal is underway for a
political rally. Preparing to stage the event for television that night, a marching
band practices and a sound check is conducted. Finally, the guest of honor
yet another senator appears for the final rehearsal. Frady, meanwhile, has
deduced that another assassination is planned and takes the guise of a security
guard in an attempt to thwart it. From a cat walk overlooking the arena, he
frantically tries to determine the conspirators next move.
The last moments of the film show the fruitless efforts of Frady as he tries to
prevent the new tragedy. The senator is shot during the rehearsal, but making
matters worse, the whole event seems to have been a set up. A person in the
crowd at the arena looks up to a cat walk and sees Frady, who is mistaken
perhaps intentionally for the killer. Unable to explain himself from his high
vantage point overlooking the arena, he attempts to run. He does not make it.
The film closes with yet another appearance of the solemn investigatory
body that appeared earlier in the film. Now, however, they report that they
have completed an examination of the evidence for the new assassination, and
they have concluded that a delusional Joseph Frady was the lone assassin. In
the end, then, the conspiracy continues and no one is the wiser.
In The Parallax View, shocking ideas about assassination in American life
are given a mainstream treatment as part of an exciting thriller. Many of the
ideas had been in circulation for some time, but they had always seemed to
be fringe ideas. Here it is presented as a standard, noncontroversial theme. It
was not completely effective, however. As the reviewer for Time commented,
 Though a touch of paranoid fantasizing can energize an entertainment, too
much of it is just plain crazy neither truthful or useful. 5 Still, The Parallax
Scandal and Skepticism 97
View brought more public notice to the conspiracy ideas even though it did
not necessarily make a very convincing case.
CHINATOWN
Director Roman Polanski s Chinatown does not, at first, seem to be part
of the conspiracy theory story in American movies. It is well respected, but it
is usually recalled as an incarnation of film noir moviemaking and as a vehicle
for star Jack Nicholson s bravura acting performance. Yet, the story it tells
centers around not just one, but two intertwining conspiracies.
Chinatown tells the story of a private detective who investigates what
seems to be a relatively routine case involving matrimonial infidelity. Soon,
however, he is caught up in a vast criminal conspiracy involving water re-
sources, government corruption, and murder. At one point in the movie,
the detective s antagonist says tellingly:  You may think you know what
you re dealing with, but believe me, you don t. Indeed, Chinatown s nar-
rative has many layers, and the conspiracy of the film appears in many
ways.
In the story, private detective Jake Gittes (Nicholson), formerly an investi-
gator in the Los Angeles police department, takes on a new case in which a
well-to-do wife asks for help in getting evidence of her husband s supposedly
secret affair. The object of the investigation is a man named Mulwray, a high-
ranking engineer with the county who oversees public works such as water
projects. Water is, of course, of special importance, since the surrounding
area has little of its own and must divert it from elsewhere. A recent proposal
from the water commission, it turns out, is highly controversial and highly
political. The proposal involved a major project to redirect water to new ar-
eas. Mulwray is a high-profile opponent of the project for the water-starved
region.
Gittes and his associates have little difficulty collecting incriminating evi- [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]