Syriana

I really enjoyed Syriana. It got me to thinking about corporations - how their primary goal is to make money for their shareholders. A business can't be the same every year, it needs to grow. People look at McDonald's and WalMart like these American symbols but really, they're symbols of capitalism, not America. If America could support more McDonald's and WalMart's, they wouldn't have expanded. But as a corporation, they must, by their own rules, expand, expand, expand.

Now we see all these mergers and acquisitions. It makes me wonder when monolopolies will be looked upon as being "for our own good" and which corporation will ultimately be the last one left. The one that has full control of everything and everyone. It has to happen. Corporations are writing our laws and eventually, large corporations will enevelope more and more smaller corporations until there will probably be war.

Like in the Simpsons when the flight attendant says: "Attention passengers. Please prepare for our landing in Tanzania. (another flight attendant hands her a note) I'm sorry, it is now called New Zanzibar. (She is handed another note) Excuse me. It is now called Pepsi Presents New Zanzibar."

Eventual corporations will own countries, and wars will be fought and won on behalf of corporations in order to engulf more corporations. It's basically imperialism with a different name. It seems extreme, but when corporations have more money than the GNP of some countries, they're in the same ballgame. Money talks, so eventually you'll see Pepsi in UN meetings. Wow.

Anyway, back to Syriana... great direction, great acting, and good story. Makes you wonder about our reality and who has already been assassinated in order to satisfy our hunger for foreign oil. George Clooney directs himself in this one and I think he makes it look easy. The locations look authentic and the characters are intriguing. Amanda Peet and Matt Damon seemed like a funny couple for some reason, don't know why, but they each act well. Several days after the film, I still have distinct images in my head from certain scenes. That says something about the cinematography.

It was written by the same dude as Traffic. If you liked Traffic, you'll like Syriana. Traffic was drugs, Syriana is oil. One's illegal, one isn't, but both indutries are currupt as hell!