Shortly after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, people from the San Francisco FBI office came on local TV talking about recruiting new agents. That piqued my interest, and I immediately researched on how to apply for a job at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as the U.S. Marshals and Secret Service.
But disappointedly, I learned that a degree was required. I dropped out of college, so there went my hopes for a career as an elite government law enforcement agent.
Of all the U.S. agencies, I think the United States Secret Service has one of the more interesting histories. It initially was created in 1865 to combat counterfeit money which was widespread at the time, but the agency's official responsibility to protect the American President wasn't until after William McKinley's assassination over 35 years later.
The FBI is the agency that's perhaps featured the most in movies and television, but In The Line Of Fire is a psychological thriller that's not only about the U.S. Service Service, but it also bolstered the public's fascination about the JFK assassination in the 1990s.
Starring Clint Eastwood and directed by Wolfgang Petersen (Outbreak, Das Boot, Air Force One), In The Line Of Fire explores the psyche of a mentally ill and dangerous lone wolf--played flawlessly by John Malkovich--and even though the story is fictional, the deteriorating and twisted mindset of the antagonist is all too familiar with today's terrorism and mass killing suspects.
But where there is evil, there will always be people who stand up to fight it. To summarize Edmund Burke: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
But disappointedly, I learned that a degree was required. I dropped out of college, so there went my hopes for a career as an elite government law enforcement agent.
Of all the U.S. agencies, I think the United States Secret Service has one of the more interesting histories. It initially was created in 1865 to combat counterfeit money which was widespread at the time, but the agency's official responsibility to protect the American President wasn't until after William McKinley's assassination over 35 years later.
The FBI is the agency that's perhaps featured the most in movies and television, but In The Line Of Fire is a psychological thriller that's not only about the U.S. Service Service, but it also bolstered the public's fascination about the JFK assassination in the 1990s.
Starring Clint Eastwood and directed by Wolfgang Petersen (Outbreak, Das Boot, Air Force One), In The Line Of Fire explores the psyche of a mentally ill and dangerous lone wolf--played flawlessly by John Malkovich--and even though the story is fictional, the deteriorating and twisted mindset of the antagonist is all too familiar with today's terrorism and mass killing suspects.
But where there is evil, there will always be people who stand up to fight it. To summarize Edmund Burke: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
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