Movie Analysis Essay on Zodiac, Like a Vision, Every Breath You Take

Introduction

The Zodiac is a film produced by Fincher 2007. The film show events that took place in San Francisco Bay in the 1960s following the Zodiac killing reign. Zodiac depicts how the three principal characters, Graysmith, Paul Avery, and detective Dave Toschi, are obsessed with hunting for the Zodiac killer.

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Events and Character's Expression of Obsession in Zodiac Killer

It all started in the late 1960s in the San Francisco Bay Area, and it was a decade of summer love. However, the decade ended with mysterious murder cases. In December 1968, a teen couple was brutally killed by a gunman. In June 1969, another young couple was murdered in nearby Vallejo. Later in July, Zodiac sent a cryptic letter to the Bay Area newspaper each contained part of complex ciphers. Zodiac warned if the coded message was not printed on the front page of each publication, then he would go on a rampage killing. Graysmith is one of the Key characters in Zodiac and is very obsessed in the Zodiac vortex. Graysmith is new on the staff when the first cipher arrives, and he is inquisitive about this case. He tries to draft the cipher, thinking he will decode it, but he doesn't. He eavesdrops on reporters and cops to get any news. When the case cools off, Graysmith still has a vested interested in the case, he continues solving the puzzle and engages with Toschi and alcoholic Avery. Graysmith is so much obsessed with the Zodiac case that he does a television interview about the book he was writing on the matter. Later he starts receiving calls with heavy breathing, and his life and family is at risk. Due to his obsession with finding Zodiac, his wife and kids move back to her parents' home, and he loses his job. Avery is a senior crime reporter who takes his Journalism career very serious. Graysmith had been his friend when they were at the bar they discuss the coded letter and Graysmith interprets one of the ciphers to him. Avery is pleased about the decoded cipher and shares the information with Toschi, Armstrong, and Riverside Police Department. He later receives a letter from Zodiac threatening his life and gets paranoid and turns to alcohol and drugs. As years pass by, Avery is descending from a fighting journalist to an alcoholic who has given up on life.

"Like a Vision"

This is a carton street art done by Mister Thomson in 2014 named "Like a Vision." The design is of a man wearing Facebook-branded blinders, and his hands are shackled as he tries to reach for "likes" drawn around him. His face expresses a man who is sweating and eager for the likes. Using the skill of describing, I see these pictures showing how humans are obsessed and desperate of other people affirmation on Facebook through the likes they receive on their posts, pictures, and status. Also, it depicts the destructive power social media can have. The piece of art released in 2014 significantly shows social media obsession, which engulfs the subject in the street art and depicts by the branded blinders with the Facebook logo and the longing for likes. This shows social media as a new form of self-obsession and narcissist elements to be liked and also to influence others. The subject is in shackles, which shows how difficult it is to abandon the behavior.

"Every Breath You Take" by Sting and Performed by the Band the Police

In the song "Ever Breath You Take," the primary obsession is depicted in the lyrics of the song in which the song tell a story of a man who is engrossed in watching his ex-lover and stalking him. This shows the obsession of love and how dangerous it can be to love too much. Sting wrote the song immediately after his separation with Frances Tomelty in which their split was viewed to be highly controversial, and the new relationship was highly condemned because Tomelty and Styler were friends and lived in the same neighborhood. Sting sings of his obsession with an ex-lover, and the obsession causes both jealousy and insecure surveillance. In the song, Sting compares his obsession with the new technology for surveillance such as the breath analyzer and the electronic anklet both used for surveillance and geolocation of an individual. This means that Sting was highly obsessed with his ex-lover to the point of analyzing every word they said and following close like an electronic anklet as a show of his obsession due to love and insecurity. This means that love and insecurity can lead to an obsession, which is expressed in "Every Breath I Take" by Sting. The theme of obsession in the song can be confirmed by the time when the song was released which was just after his breakup despite trying to cover up the theme of obsession and pain by making surveillance technology remarks in the song.

Conclusion

In the first and second scenarios, human obsession is evident. Unfortunately, both instances proved that human obsession does not have any positive impact; instead, it causes harm to the victims. In the first scenario, Graysmith loss of family life and job while Toschi health deteriorates and he becomes a hopeless man. The second scenario shows that human obsession for validation from others causes mental issues and lower self-esteem. Human obsession should be a perception we should avoid at any cost. In the third scenario of music, the obsession is in the song author's love for his ex-lover which does not stop and forces him to become more engrossed and over interested to the former lover's words as well as their location.

Works Cited

Fincher, David, Zodiac Movie Clip. YouTube. (2007). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W91BHqxJIRg&disable_polymer=true

Sting. Every Breath You Take. Wikipedia. (1983). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Every_Breath_You_Take.

Thoms, Mister. "Like A Vision." Thorms.com. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.thoms.it/street.html.