Surveillance and Power

Both The Conversation and Enemy of the State illustrate the connections between surveillance and power, and how these notions relate to voyeurism and the gaze of the camera. All of the "surveyors" in the film are in favor of surveillance not because they think that everything should be brought into the light, but because they want only themselves to be able to see anything. When the tables are turned and the watchers become the watched, they are not as complacent with the technology and surveillance as they were when they were watching others. Gene Hackman's character in The Conversation is calm and collected for most of the movie. However, when he finds out that he has been bugged and his conversation was listened to, he becomes extremely upset and kicks everyone out of his office. Likewise, when the NSA officials find that there own bugs have been used against them, they are even more determined to stop Will Smith. This shows the hypocracies of those that favor surveillance, in that they want to see everyone else but not be seen by others. They desire the classic position of power that comes with the unreturned gaze, the gaze of the voyeur.

Complicating the themes of voyeurism and surveillance even more is the audience watching the films that are about watching. As audience members we want to know more about the characters and the plot as well, especially in the case of complicated plots like these two films. There are also the cases where we cannot be sure whether we are watching a surveillance image or simply a regular camera shot. When we think we are watching the surveillance image, we feel less like voyeurs because it other characters are watching and we are just watching along with them. However, if it turns out that the image is simply a normal shot, we fill the role of the voyeur as the only ones watching. The audience is secure in their position of power because unlike the surveyors in the movies, their gaze cannot be returned back to them. Just like the anger felt by the watchers when they become watched, we might not be so willing to watch movies if we knew that others could watch movies of our lives