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Thursday, September 26, 2019

The Parallax View Forty-some Years On

Last night I watched The Parallax View, a 1974 conspiracy thriller directed by Alan J. Pakula, probably best known for All the President's Men. In one scene, Warren Beatty's character catches a 707 by running out onto the tarmac like the plane has paused at a bus stop. Then he simply climbs the stairs and grabs a seat.

A few minutes later, a waitress with a clipboard comes by and asks him for his name. "Is Denver your last stop?" she asks. "Yes," Beatty answers. "That'll be $68.75."

Beatty's character pays, right there in the aisle(!) with cash. And he's good to go.

I knew airport security used to be far looser than today, but I find it hard to believe it was ever this easy to take a plane. If it was ever this easy, how sad that we've lost that freedom...also, pretty amazing that a domestic cross-country flight cost as little as 70 bucks.

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