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Wow, because of a great interview with Matt Damon that I read in my local paper yesterday, I'm posting a rare letter to Salon.
Thought I'd share an insightful, intelligent analysis he did of the 3 Bourne movies, and how they've evolved from the themes of Paranoia, Atonement, and finally, Anger, paralleling those emotions with that of the collective psyche of the American public post-9/11. Not so sure about atonement though ... I think that was perhaps wishful thinking on his part about the Bush administration's criminal and unapologetic actions re Iraq et al.
And I quote:
"For Damon, the Bourne movies work on many different levels at once. They're popcorn pictures, but they're also reflections of the times in which they're made.
"The first one came out in 2002 and it's definitely a post-9/11 movie," he says. "All of the paranoia is there."
"The second one came out in 2004, when things were starting to turn in Iraq. Jason Bourne, this iconic American figure, is apologizing and atoning for his misdeeds, for things that he's done. He's taking responsibility."
"Now you have the 2007 movie and Bourne is pulling a gun and putting it to the head of the person who lied to him all these years. Bourne's saying, `I see now that you've led me into something under false pretenses.'"
