The film "Traffic" by Steven Soderbergh is a film that deals with different aspects of drug trafficking and drug abuse. The film has three different simultaneous plots that come together. One part is the national level dealing with drug trafficking between the United States of America and Mexico, another is the intermediate level focusing on a mid-level distributor who has just been arrested, and the third is the individual level . Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The first plot of the film is set in Mexico, where two police officers arrest smugglers in a truck full of cocaine and end up impressing a high-ranking officer General Salazar. He later asks one of the officers, Javier, for help in capturing a hitman, Francisco Flores, working for the Tijuana drug cartel led by the Obregon brothers that he was trying to take down. Javier succeeds. He later hears Francisco being tortured for information on key members of the Tijuana Cartel. They are later arrested and Salazar is made Mexico's drug czar. Later Javier discovers that Salazar himself is working for a rival drug cartel, the Juarez Cartel, which is why he wanted to take the Tijuana Cartel out of Mexico. Javier's partner Manolo is later murdered by drug lords for informing the United States Drug Enforcement Administration. Javier then cuts a deal with the FBI and passes on inside information about the Juarez Cartel in exchange for electricity in his neighborhood for children to play at night instead of doing drugs. Francisco is murdered for selling out the Obregon brothers. Salazar is exposed, tortured and killed. The second plot alternates between Washington DC and Cincinnati. An Ohio judge, Wakefield, is appointed drug czar of the United States. However, his 16-year-old daughter Caroline is a drug addict. Wakefield is determined to win the war on drugs. She is arrested when, along with others, she dumps an overdosed classmate outside a hospital. Her drug abuse spirals out of control, leading her to theft and prostitution. He escapes from a rehab center to end up with his drug dealer. Wakefield and his wife blame each other for the problem. Wakefield teases his wife about her drug abuse as a teenager and she blames him for being too involved in his work. Wakefield later quits his job to support his family. The third storyline is set in San Diego, where a mid-level drug distributor is under federal investigation. Montel and Ray, DEA investigators are gathering evidence against Carlos Ayala, who distributes drugs for the Obregon brothers. They arrest Eduardo Ruiz who was working for Ayala and convince him to testify against Ayala. Helen, Ayala's wife who came from a poor background and married a rich man, had no idea about her husband's work. When he finds out where their money comes from, he hires Francisco Flores to kill Ruiz, the main witness in the investigation. When Ruiz escapes Francesco, he poisons Ruiz. Signs a deal with the Obregon brothers to make it the sole distributor of their cocaine in the United States. Ruiz is killed. Ayala is released and they return to their lives. The film ends with Montel entering their house and starting a fight as a cover to bother Carlos Ayala's desk. This shows that there may be some hope for the government to win against the drug lords. The main themes of the film are drug culture, military corruption, police corruption, conformity, crime and deviance. The main question we need to ask ourselves is.
tags