MovieChat Forums > Network (1976) Discussion > I enjoyed this film but....

I enjoyed this film but....

posted 10 years ago by MsJackieO
20 replies | jump to latest

I have no idea what the point of it was. What the moral was. I love the speeches, especially Ned Beatty's, but fear I am missing the message. I also love Beale's rant about people not reading and believing whatever comes out of the television - a great point about the brainwashing of civilization by the weapon of mass distraction - but was that his primary point or, as I suspect, another point altogether? One that is part of the larger fabric that is the film itself?

I thought Beale had a wake-up call, and was able to see just how crummy the world was, how cynical, how governments and media lie to us, make us (as Tyler Durden said) work hard to buy stuff we don't need but later on he readily agrees to become a mouthpiece for Ned Beatty's multi-corporate commercialism.

Was Beale insightful and right or was he just a crackpot? I get the TV station let him rant and rave because it was good for business but not sure of much else. Your help is much appreciated.

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] knight-in-black-leather 10 years ago

I finally watched it last night after hearing about it for years, but found it really boring and cliched. I understand it's satirical and meant to be a commentary on society, and I watched it with that mindset, but it just came across like a bad soap opera IMHO. No offence to those who liked it, it's just a matter of opinion.

"This is a faithful saying...Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief."

[–] TheBoz 9 years ago

You Too? TCM? It certainly lacked the umphhh when I saw it for the first time in 1979. Growing up I learned that Howard Beales rantings about TV and who is paying whom for what and how corporations are involved, and how people are affected and debased is so true.

I thought as a 20 year old in College that it was all movie bluster and today I see how true the mad prophets Jeremiads were.

[–] likerash 10 years ago

I was hoping we could get something from
his final sermon, his final speech should really have delivered some clarity into what it was all about but for what ever reason he doesn't say a word and the movie just ended within seconds of the shooting :/

[–] DeepRest 10 years ago

likerash:
I was hoping we could get something from
his final sermon, his final speech should really have delivered some clarity into what it was all about but for what ever reason he doesn't say a word and the movie just ended within seconds of the shooting :/

That's because you have never known life without television, without movies, all promising you the happy endings and to tie everything up in one little neat package. That was one of the messages this movie was trying to convey all throughout.

[–] !!!deleted!!! (14789810) 10 years ago

It had many themes and messages, but they may not be spelt out obviously enough for you.

I recommend watching the film again some time and getting what you can out of it, using Holden's character as the viewer's perspective.

The film says a great deal about the times we live in (still relevant today), the sensationalizing of the news for profit and ratings, and the throwing aside of politics and morals for profits. It's a commentary on the effect of television in America before the Internet sensation.

http://www.imdb.com/list/rJuB9UoASlQ/

[–] MsJackieO 9 years ago

The film says a great deal about the times we live in (still relevant today), the sensationalizing of the news for profit and ratings, and the throwing aside of politics and morals for profits. It's a commentary on the effect of television in America before the Internet sensation.

I get that (thanks for the reply by the way - and for not being a dick like some of the others who replied - but I don't get why Beale readily accepted Jensen's monologue when that in itself was part of what he was railing against.

[–] GuyOnTheLeft 9 years ago

My takeaway, ultimately (and this is one of my favorite films) was that Beale was a crackpot who touched a nerve but then was easily manipulated.

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My top 250: http://www.flickchart.com/Charts.aspx?user=SlackerInc&perpage=250

[–] AndrewGS 7 years ago

I don't get why Beale readily accepted Jensen's monologue when that in itself was part of what he was railing against.

I think he was just convinced by Jensen's claims that capitalism (or some broader system of exchange, with communism not that different) was inevitable and necessary and overall beneficial and specifically that corporations were better and truer than nations; even if it dehumanized people a corporate- rather than nation-centered world involved less brutality.

[–] DemonSinner 10 years ago

Just look at Jerry Springer WWE Howard stern. That's the point. The movie foreshadowed this kind of mindless entertainment.

[–] skay_baltimore 8 years ago

Just look at Jerry Springer WWE Howard stern. That's the point. The movie foreshadowed this kind of mindless entertainment.

More than that...it showed how something as supposedly objective as the news became little more than entertainment for ratings. And that has certainly happened. Plus, 24 hour news shows like CNN didn't exist then but came into being 4 years after this film came out.

"Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier 'n puttin' it back in." -- Will Rogers

[–] AndrewGS 7 years ago

Just look at Jerry Springer WWE Howard stern. That's the point. The movie foreshadowed this kind of mindless entertainment.

More than that...it showed how something as supposedly objective as the news became little more than entertainment for ratings.

Although even Max at some points derided the idea that even the glorious early days of television news were really that great and early on he didn't deny that the pre-Diana-sensationalism news was pretty tabloid-y.

[–] PsychoDingo 9 years ago

The point is that money has become more important than humanity.

I got girls up here do more tricks than a god damn monkey on a hundred yards of grape vine.

[–] parris2003 9 years ago

I think the great man himself says it best in this interview
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNa019FaNW0

[–] PsychoDingo 9 years ago

That's a good interview. It's included in the extra features on the double-disc DVD release of the movie.

Do you know who the wise-cracking guy on the left side of the screen is? My dad and I both feel sure we know who he is, but neither of us can place him.

He was so crooked, he could eat soup with a corkscrew.

[–] franzkabuki 9 years ago

A very large part of the point was made by that same Ned Beatty speech you claim to love. And there is also probably something symptomatic in how he managed to bully and intimidate this divine insight-stricken madman into doing 'his' bidding from then on.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

[–] balthazar_bee 9 years ago

Jensen is an interesting character.

On the surface, he appears to be the epitome of the pragmatic businessman. The content of his rant would seem to suggest that his bottom line is nothing more than profit, as one might expect from such a figure or corporation.

On the other hand, he seems to revive something in himself as he's bellowing at Beale. At the end of that scene I'd argue that both characters have undergone a change.

"And I have chosen...

...you...

...to preach this evangel."

Clearly Beale is overwhelmed by this experience, but Jensen too (at least based on the fiery quality of the speech itself and his actions afterward) seems to lose track of his priorities. In short, the propagation of the message becomes more important than achieving the desired result "where the rubber meets the road".

Jensen is "adamantine" that Beale remain on the air, despite the problems this creates for the network as a whole. Having the mad prophet give his sermons about globalization and dehumanization becomes an end in itself.

It's ironic that, after yelling about the fact that there isn't any genuinely meaningful ideology in the world -- and that's good, because profit is all that matters -- this media mogul has decided that that, in and of itself, is the ideology, and to hell with the profits that he's losing by keeping Beale on the air.

[–] pturman-929-979676 9 years ago

There's no way to respond to your comment other than stating the seemingly obvious. Either go back and watch it again (and pay attention this time) or stay away from movies that don't have action figures and roman numerals in the title.