The first thing I noticed when watching Johnson’s Field-Of-Vision, was a group of kids staring silently at a white blimp. I was surprised to hear only the sound of wind in the beginning scenes, where I was waiting in anticipation. Then to have that silence interrupted by the sound of a man mining gave it a nice, ambient feeling. Though, that feeling soon changed once I saw text stating that the blimp was a U.S. Army Surveillance Device, going around and monitoring the people in Kabul, Afghanistan. I felt some empathy for the villagers having to continue their daily lives, while constantly being surveyed in the sky. But once I saw that same white blimp above the green lawns of Aberdeen, Maryland, the parallel came out in an instant. We are being watched by our own government just as much as the villagers are in Afghanistan. The same issues that are being faced overseas regarding surveillance affect us just as well, and in my opinion, makes us more suspicious on what the government is doing. Now right after feeling this discomfort, I chuckled at the response of the U.S. military spokesperson in regards to this. To say that there are no cameras on the blimp and it is only being used to detect incoming missile strikes is hilarious; if that was the case then it would be just as effective to place a hot-weather balloon with the words “ARMY” on front and equip it with missile detectors on it? That way people can at least know where their tax dollars are going to. But even though I felt dismayed to see the government surveying both ends of the pond, I’m glad that Kirsten created this documentary. She puts a lot of care into each scene and makes the story flow smoothly from start to finish. From the video, she helped me see another connection between one culture to another.
