Manchurian Candidate
This is an excerpt from the paper...
Despite it hurting his presidential ambitions, a line uttered by former Senator Barry Goldwater that rings true and is most applicable to the themes and plot of the John Frankenheimer directed The Manchurian Candidate reads: Extremism in the defense of virtue is no vice. In The Manchurian Candidate, we are treated to a chaotic but perfectly structured mix of fanaticism and patriotic fervor, just after the end of the Korean War but during a period of peak anxiety and paranoia in America fueled by the fear of communism and the Cold War. In the midst of the McCarthyism and communist witch-hunts of the 1950s, this analysis of The Manchurian Candidate will support the contention that fear and paranoia were more of an enemy to American freedom than the actual threat of communism in this era. The film is an excellent drama that revolves around the members of a group of American soldiers who have returned home, one of them, Raymond Shaw, the recipient of the Medal of Honor. In reality, the soldiers were captured and brainwashed by Korean agents, becoming sleeper agents. One of them, Raymond Shaw, is programmed to assassinate the presidential candidate so the vice-presidential candidate, Shaw’s step-father John Iselin, can become president. Shaw’s mother, a fanatic, ambitious, communist agent, is her son’s programmer. Her machinations involve programming her son to kill his new bride and her father, Iselin’s political e
. . .
orms his mother that he is repulsed by her and his step-father’s virulent anti-communism, he also tells her that he and his new employer share something in common “We both discovered that we both loathe and despise you and Johnny.”
We discover through Marco’s nightmares that Shaw is the killer of two of his own platoon members and, far from being a hero worth of decoration, he is a programmed assassin of communist forces. However, in an ironic move meant to spear the McCarthyism mentality of the 1950s, the director presents us with a scene that shows that the communists may not be as big a threat as those who virulently attack and despise them, seeing commies under ever tree and making every friend, neighbor, and relative suspect. This is portrayed to us in many instances in the film, but in one scene in particular we are treated to the bombastic and ranting words of Senator Iselin, who is portrayed as a Joe McCarthy-like red-baiting, fear-mongering, politician. With his domineering wife in the foreground feeding him his words, one can only conjure up images of Nancy Reagan dictating words to Ronald Reagan during Iran-Contra. Yet, despite the Senator insisting he has “the names of 207 persons who are known by the Secretary of
. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Cold War, Manchurian Candidate, Defense Department, Medal Honor, Iselin Johnny, Bennett Marco, Johnny Iselin, Communist Party, John Iselin, Draped American, manchurian candidate, cold war, film excellent, medal honor, film excellent job, threat communism, american freedom, shaws mother, john frankenheimer, communist party, fear paranoia,
Approximate Word count = 1444
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
More Essays on Manchurian Candidate
|