Thursday, July 21, 2005

"i'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore"

The title of this entry comes from the (remarkably prescient) 1976 film Network. Before the Daily Show and Politically Incorrect... before Tough Crowd and Fox News... before Morton Downey Jr. (Anyone remember him?) this film explored what can happen when journalists depart from the usual lies and try to speak the truth in a new way. It is the story of Howard Beale, an aging tv anchorman at the UBS television network (smile) where the news division has been recently put under the control of the entertainment division. As a result, Beale, the respected, but less than telegenic, anchor is fired. But before he fades away, he gives a 'final' broadcast so electrifying that it causes the network to rethink their decision and sparks a series of events which ultimately spiral out of control.

I have been thinking about the movie these because it seems like so much of our news is distorted by the desire to entertain rather than inform. The local news gets more and more sensationalized. And it is a little scary how many people have Comedy Central's Daily Show as their main source of news. (poll on where people get their news)

If you don't have an account at Hollywood Video, here is the entire screenplay for the film: Network

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