Network (1976)by Lumet

Last night, I watched Network(1976), by Sidney Lumet, with Prof. Pimpare and some guys from the class (thanks to Gadi who arranged everything and the guy who brought the coke-sorry I don't know your name.) A journalist (Peter Finch) announced that he will commit sucide after learning that he's fired because of the bad popularity of his TV Show for which he worked during 25 years. He sinks quickly in a mystical madness, and is finally manipulated by UBS to become an insane preacher of the television news, transforming the TV Show into national success. At the same time, Lumet shows us the ascension of a producer (Faye Dunaway) manipulator and without scruples dedicating an immoderate worship to her career and the TV rating of her show. What impresses us especially in Network, it is the maitrise of Lumet to tell his story. The scenario - very complex - passes like a letter in the mail.The speeches of Finch for example, able alternatively to sell liberalism or to destroy the bases of the democracy. And then, this extraordinary scene where Jensen (CEO of the company) beats Beale on his own game and turns over it completely.
What to think about that movie? The idea was clear, the TV sells us whatever we would watch and has no scrupules to change any program if they don't "work". As Jensen explained to Finch, today there are no more goverments , there are big companies, big networks, and there is only one word: buisness!
Apparently this movie was very well recepted when it came out, but this idea of globalization of the medias and more generally of the rest of the world, nowadays isn't new. Medias need money in order to function and the only way for them to get it, is to have an audience. Of course, in this movie, the story went to the extreme. The real question would be more to find another system than to criticize the one we have. What are goverments supposed to do about it? In an ideal world, more competitive the medias are, better the news are. Let's not forget of the advantages of our system would be my comment on that movie.