1. The multi-plot structure of Traffic leads to a reversal of traditional ethnic hierarchies and a weaking of the traditional hero-centered narrative by making the characters of the film “all subordinate to the plot and the problem of drugs.” There are multiple characters within the film that are trying to stop the drug problem in the United States and Mexico, and these characters come from many different national and ethnic backgrounds. However, no one character rids the world of a drug problem by themselves. They all have some level of success, but no character is completely successful. Only Javier Rodriguez Rodriguez is seen as a possible hero in his story, as he does his job, remains incorruptible, and in the end asks only for something to give the children of Tijuana a safer place to play baseball at night.
In terms of traditional ethnic hierarchies, the wealthy white man is not in charge as he normally would be. Instead, he falls victim to the “drug war” as his daughter becomes a drug addict, and he must lower himself, in his eyes, to associate with drug dealers in order to find his daughter. He is also clueless as to what is really going on in Mexico’s drug trade cartels. Instead, the real characters of power within the film are the African-American DEA agent and his partner, the Latino DEA agent. The white-middle family is “dysfunctional,” and this puts them at a disadvantage to the other races. All of the main characters, regardless of ethnicity, are given a story with their own points-of-view.
2. While the film’s main drug trafficking takes place in Tijuana, Mexico, the author argues that the “good” Mexican characters are only put into place there to detract from the fact that all of the major drug cartel leaders are Mexican men. The “good” Latino also works to try to counteract this negative portrayal of Mexican and Latino men, as the distributors are “primarily Latino.” Lastly, the dealers are all African-American, so the “good” African-American DEA agent plays against that negative stereotype as a good member of the law enforcement community who is trying to get drugs and drug dealers off of the streets.
3. Different tones are used to show the change in narrative and locations. Color coding allows the audience to know where they are at all times while also giving information about the location. Shaw explains that the “blue metallic tones” used to color the Wakefield scenes represent industrial America. Completely opposite of that industrialized feel is that of Mexico, where the sepia tones are used. The geography looks scarce, yellow, “sun drenched,” and desert like, which Shaw states shows lack and poverty. California is then shown as a sunny, conventional manner. This furthers the distance between Mexico and North America in terms of looks as representations of wealth and poverty levels. Shaw argues that the sepia-toned point-of-view shot through Wakefield’s binoculars simply furthers the images of Mexico as poverty-stricken and underdeveloped while blaming Mexico for its own problems and placing none of the blame atop North America’s shoulders.
4. General Salazar represents the entirety of the institutional corruption within Mexico. He is the man in charge of the Federal Drug Forces in Mexico, but while he goes out of his way to wage war against the Tijuana cartel, it comes into light that he is actually working for the Madrigal cartel under the control of “The Scorpion.” He is “sadistic and power hungry” like many villains of the Hollywood screen have been in the past. Javier reinforces common Hollywood representations of Mexico as a country in need of guidance from the United States because he is only able to bring results to Mexico when he gives information to the DEA and lets them take care of the corruption and drug problems within his country. The film suggests that he could not have done this alone.
5. The representation of drug trade in Traffic reflects larger assumptions about American foreign policy by showing America as trying to fix its drug problem by trying to fix the drug problems of other nations. Many countries, as well as individuals within the United States, see this as America’s tactic for solving all of its problems. The United States pulls “good” members of foreign communities into their own structures in order to take out “bad” members of foreign communities and nations, as shown by Javier being pulled in to help the US DEA take out the Mexican drug cartels.
6. Soderbergh brought many key lessons away from the Richard Lester project. He realized that being a filmmaker meant not only appreciating and enjoying his own works but to enjoy and appreciate the works of other filmmakers in the industry. It was during this time that he also came to appreciate the story about the average individual. Lester also taught him to work quickly and to let instinct take over at times. He describes this as “tossing things off.” With The Limey, Traffic, and Erin Brockovich, especially the latter, Soderbergh showcased stories of the “ordinary individual.” In Out of Sight, he claims to have felt “light on [his] feet,” which allowed him to be much more free and instinctual about the project instead of nitpicking over every detail.
7. Erin Brockovich represents a key change for Soderbergh’s views of “personal filmmaking” on many levels. For one, the story is simply about her and her interactions with the people along her journey to what she becomes. Secondly, it’s a linear storyline about one person trying to make a difference, and the linear aspect of the narrative is totally unlike anything he has done before. However, the biggest change was that he no longer wanted to make stories about himself. Instead, he wanted to make films about other people’s experiences through his vision, and that was what Erin Brockovich allowed him to do.
8. The “run-and-gun” technique of having Soderbergh as the director, the director of photography, and the camera operator for Traffic allowed him to be on set at all times. Not only did his vision come through in performances, but he was able to make that vision come through two-fold by capturing the image just the way he wanted it captured. In terms of performance, he was able to shoot the script very quickly with his actors able to run entire scenes with only very short breaks (around two minutes to set up different angles). Instead of waiting around on set for their scenes, actors were often working all day long. It allowed the actors to stay in character and really begin to feel the emotion as if they were experiencing it themselves, and this allowed for more realism than a traditional filming style would have allowed for, especially when it came to Michael Douglas and toning down his movie star acting style for the realism that Traffic required.
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