Examples Of Paranoia In Jfk

While technical definitions of the word “paranoia” are about a mental disorder, it’s the only word that fully encompasses the fear, mistrust, and suspicion demonstrated by the film JFK. This kind of paranoia is generally a suspicion of conspiracy, which can be anything from exaggerated stories about Freemasons in America, to a belief that the government faked the Moon Landings, to thinking that the American government conspired to kill the president so our country could go to war. Many paranoid conspiracy theories don’t do much of anything besides hold back the people who believe in them, but others, like in JFK, can cause harm or injustice to those accused. However, in the movie, Oliver Stone puts this kind of paranoia in a positive light, as if saying that conspiracy theorists are righteous seekers of truth and justice. Paranoia is a major theme behind the movie JFK, and shows how far some people will go to prove a suspected conspiracy.

Paranoia, or the “paranoid style,” as Hofstadter (4) puts it, is a way of viewing the world where everyone is out to get the paranoid person, holding over exaggerated, apocalyptic beliefs. Yet This person

He believed that there was some deep, dark plot involved in the JFK assassination, which the American government organized to go to war in Vietnam, and that without his righteous help, the case would go unsolved. He thus sees the world through thick lenses of paranoia, as he visually sees it through his glasses. Clearly, many disagreed with Garrison in the film, which showed that his hopes of proving his conspiracy to the general public was quixotic at best. Still, he is sure that the American government is lying to its people, something we expect politicians do on a lesser scale every day. Still, no matter how paranoid, it’s the American way to allow Garrison or anyone else to be suspicious of and investigate any out-of-the-ordinary