Conspiracy Theory
Conspiracy Theory
To the naked eye, Jerry Fletcher seems like an insane, paranoid, crazy madman. But when his personality is looked at further, and he is deeply analyzed, it is obvious that he is nowhere near any of these. Yes, he seems crazy at some points, and sometimes extremely paranoid, he has a legitimate reason to be both of those things. Throughout the movie, there is more and more insight into Jerry’s character and the things that make him tick. Diving into Jerry’s personality reveals that his obsession with conspiracies isn’t just an obsession; he has a reason to not trust the government. Jerry seems paranoid and crazy at times due to his experiences thus creating this distrust and paranoid behavior, but deep down, Jerry is extremely intelligent and compassionate.
Jerry seems stupid, crazy and careless sometimes but as we learn Jerry’s life, we realize just how intelligent he is. Jerry feels the need to count the number of steps that it takes to get to his apartment. He also keeps track of the times that he has visited Alice. Jerry resides in numbers for comfort. When he knows exact numbers he feels as if he has control over the situation at hand. In addition to numbers, he also shows intelligence in other areas of his life as well. One being in his apartment; he, by himself, designed an apartment that could combust, destroying everything inside, but not hurt a single person. and creating an escape route. An average person usually would not think of the situation to the extent that Jerry does. Jerry has a plan for any situation. Even with his outrageous conspiracy theories, he shows deep analysis and thought for every article in the newspaper. He thinks out every thing that could possibly be a theory.
Jerry evolves into a new man throughout the story. He begins alone, secluded in his apartment, surrounded by millions of newspaper clippings and books. Once he finally gets Alice onboard with some of his ideas, he has someone there for him. He finds safety under Alice, which allows him to finally remember some of the terrible things that Dr. Jonas has done to him. Jerry is so paranoid that he can’t remember, but as he finally finds someone he can trust, he slowly begins to open up. By opening up, he is able to live a more normal life than before. With Alice’s help he is able to finally open up the wound of his past and forget some of the terrible ideas and memories that Dr. Jonas forced upon him. By the end, he is changed, he is able to check Jonas off the list of reasons to be paranoid, a huge step towards Jerry’s recovery. Jerry may never fully recover, but he is able to live without worrying about traps and deceit of Dr. Jonas.
Jerry relies on Conspiracy theories as a way to cope with what he has gone through. When all that he has known was people chasing him and trying to tell him what to do, he has every right to believe that the government is either out to get him, or cover up things. He goes to Alice to try and get the word out to everyone else since she is part of the justice department. When it is revealed in the movie that he was in fact a victim of one of the government cover-ups, it gives us insight into why Jerry holds onto these so dearly. The fact that other people could possibly be hurt or lied to pushes Jerry’s buttons. His compassion comes into play here. Jerry never wants to hurt anyone, hence saying “sorry” every time that he hurts someone. He doesn’t want anyone to be mislead and misguided like he once was.