A World Gone Mad

There's a film that has been circulating amongst employees at the video store where I work, and that film is Network, directed by Sydney Lumet in 1976, starring Faye Dunaway, William Holden and Peter Finch. And now, the movie is in my hands, and I'm glad it is because I definitely enjoyed it, as did my colleagues.

Network is a window to the realities of television and media, both more obsessed with ratings than with truth, and both willing to go as far as altering the truth or straight up transforming it completely, just to get as many viewers as possible, or worse: to make the naive people sitting at home gobble up whatever junk is fed to them, characterized as "bullshit" by Finch's character. Network also shows the inhuman side of the media world and of the people who control it, obsessed and insensitive like Dunaway's character. In this case, the heads of the industry exploit a sick man to get good ratings instead of getting him the help he obviously needs, then plot to assassinate that same sick man when his ratings begin to plunge. This might be a bit of an exaggeration (the characters, the plot and the script are all embroidered and slightly blown out of proportion), but a useful one; one that forces awareness upon movie goers, news watchers and newspaper readers, awareness of the backstage animosity of this industry, but also the vigilance one must have to be able to avoid becoming a humanoid, to take some and leave some, because the media is a powerful force in which every word is man-written and chosen for a reason.

Here are the main lines of the insanely intriguing plot: An acclaimed newsman, Howard Beale, starts to get ongoingly low ratings, which leads to his eventual lay off. His  already fragile state of mind takes a shock, bringing him to announce his suicide which would take place on air, a statement after which he becomes completely insane (insane enough to see clearly) and begins to rant about the lies told by the media. His madness and illumination obviously brings about tones of viewers. Despite his need for psychological help, he is put back on air to continue on with his ranting and to get people involved with his new found clarity. Although he is elucidated by the truth, he remains a frail human being, capable of being manipulated by higher forces. The head of the channel tells Beale that he must change his usual speech and prone capitalism, non-existing democracy and dead ideology. This new lecture results in lower ratings once again. The news crew, in order to keep the madman quiet without disobeying the boss, plot to assassinate Beale, which they successfully accomplish.

The final line of the film sums up the absurdity of the whole plot: "This was the story of Howard Beale: The first known instance of a man who was killed because he had lousy ratings." A ridiculous sentence for a ridiculous world.