Catching Up on Network

A bizarre movie filled with dark humor attached with an immense script, Network is a story about a fictional TV network that will work at anything to better their television ratings. Network is a 1976 film directed by Sidney Lumet and written by Paddy Chayefsky. The movie revolves around the horrendous yet entertaining experiences of fictional Union Broadcasting System (UBS) and the rise and tragic downfall of Howard Beale, a well-loved madman of the television industry. The major cast of the film could not have been picked better: William Holden portrays Max Schumacher, an assiduous and logical newsman; Faye Dunaway who is Diana Christensen, an hardhearted and assertive programmer; Robert Duvall as Frank Hackett, a corrupt and insatiable executive; and not to forget the favorite, Peter Finch plays Howard Beale, the mad man proclaimed to be a prophet and a messenger of the people.

            Despite all the seriousness and dramatic moments of the film, Network is still considered as a satirical genre. However, the humor is far too dark to be considered as easygoing, comical or pleasing. Network is able to deliver humor in a very clever level. Only in a couple of scenes do I find myself chuckling or nodding my head at the well-hidden witty references and remarks. The film is best enjoyed for an audience of young adults or even older, those who has a general understanding of the media and international country struggles.

            The plot of the story, as mentioned before, tells of UBS and their efforts to raise their ratings. Howard Beale's behavior in his live talk show is deem unstable yet the company keeps him in just because the ratings of the program have gone up, which has not happened in many years for the company. However, over the course of the film, the audience is able to see that every program of the television industry is merely a tool- when the champion of the top television spot becomes boring and old news, relatable to anything in pop culture, they get thrown out and are replaced with something else that is "in" or popular. Lumet and Chayefsky does a really well-rounded job depicting this ideology of pop culture.

            Schumacher's character in the film represents the only last "living" person in the UBS news industry and is shown as the story's moral conscience and righteousness. As Beale's best friend, Schumacher tries to stop the exploitation of Beale's insanity and asks him to be put into medical treatment. However, he is fired by Hackett for trying to save Beale. Schumacher can be seen as the true hero in the story because he puts his principles above corruption and greed. He chooses not to incorporate himself into the industry that tries to take every advantage possible in order to better the TV ratings. As mentioned before, Schumacher is the only character that can "feel", as he is metaphorically the only human still left living from the TV industry. However Schumacher, much like the audience, can only watch as his TV news station, which used to be well respected, to be turned into a fraudulent and greedy circus.

            Though, there is one downfall of Schumacher and that is his short-lived obsession for Diana Christensen. Because of Christensen, he decides to leave his 25 year wife and marriage, even under the consciousness that he will regret doing so. Chayefsky does an excellent job in creating such a complex and sentimental character. Just like an epic hero, Schumacher is good-hearted and near perfect yet also has one fatal flaw. On the other hand, William Holden does a well perfected performance in expressing exactly what it is that Chayefsky wanted the audiences to feel in Max Schumacher's character.

            Faye Dunaway's role as Diana Christensen was rewarded Best Actress Oscar, and by far is the most remarkable and amusing character in the movie. Christensen can be described as a ruthless and ambitious  programmer, who is willing to use illegitimate and dishonest means to further her program's viewings. At one point she tries to feature a terrorist organization on national television. Her only purpose of being is given by her one sentence: "All I want out of life is a 30 share and a 20 rating." Christensen's character represents more of an intangible idea than an actual living being. She is the idea of the negative aspect of television, she only cares about ratings and viewership, she does not love nor feel human emotion, she lives day to day on an account of different "scripts" of life. An example of her lack of emotions is when she even talks about her job during a sexual encounter. This shows that she is constantly consumed by her job; she can feel neither pleasure nor happiness. Additionally, Schumacher gives a well rounded description of the female character: "I'm not sure she's capable of any real feelings. She's television generation. She learned life from Bugs Bunny." Although he knows Christensen's true face, he was still not able to step away from getting romantically involved with her.

            The third member of the main cast is Peter Finch who plays Howard Beale, a very intriguing and unpredictable character. In the start of the film, during his air time, he tells the whole world that he plans to commit public suicide. This strikes Beale off as an instant character to keep an eye on. The actor's performance of Howard Beale is superb to say the least, he exemplifies the character as a man of desperation and lunacy. His famous message, "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore," became an instant hit and is still referred to today as a classic movie quotation.

            Chayefsky's script for Beale is most impressive in these lines: "Television is not the truth... Television is a circus, a carnival, a traveling troupe of acrobats, storytellers, dancers, singers, jugglers, sideshow freaks, lion tamers and football players. We're in the boredom-killing business." Honestly, it's as if Chayefsky also had a vision about the television industry of the future while he wrote the script. One would assume that a 1976 movie would feel outdated today, but Lumet and Chayefsky created such an innovative work that the concept of the movie seems even more relevant in today's society. The movie, to a certain extent, was able to pit the negativity and harsh reality of modern television and broadcast news.

            Two supporting casts, both of which had only one monologue, gave an extremely powerful and convincing portrayal of their part in the film. Ned Beatty, who plays Arthur Jensen, gives an immense speech as a business man, who reveals himself as an advocate of a single international state, to Beale warning him of what he can or cannot do during his TV show. During this scene, the film uses a dramatically dimmed board meeting room to deliver Beatty's commanding and rhetorical dialogue which instantly converts Beale. Needless to say, the setting and the zoom-in shots of Beale were ideal to deliver the idea of significance in this scene.  

            After Beale changes his preaches to Jensen's meaning of life, the ratings of the show eventually decreases because people do not like his new sermons. They do not like being told to dehumanize and find it rather depressing. This ultimately leads up to the famous final conclusion of Network. The ending is indeed very shocking, especially because of the year the movie was produced. However, the ending of the film was very necessary in order to show just how far some people are willing to get in order to achieve their desires. Network is able to demonstrate that idea flawlessly. We are able to see characters such as Christensen and Hackett who truly have no sympathy or remorse of their actions.

            The second supporting cast member who had only one monologue is Beatrice Straight who plays as Louise Schumacher. Although the lengthy dialogue was not as potent as Ned Beatty's corporate speech, it still delivered a very passionate and emotional feeling across to the audience that is worthy to be noted.

            The production design by Philip Rosenburg and Owen's Roizman's camera angles are very remarkable in the film. They are all refined and edited very well by the MGM picture. This film remains to be a very unique success of Hollywood productions from the 1970s. It's no wonder that the film was able to receive four wins out of 10 Oscar nominations.

            The events in Network may be ridiculous and overdramatic, but it seems that in today's shows, none of it is really that impossible to believe. Take, for example, we have "The Jerry Springer Show" as well as various reality TV shows on MTV like "Jersey Shore" or "16 and Pregnant". Television has been polluted with shows that seem desperate to grab viewer's attention ever since the 90s. It is even more so today than ever before. The film also gives out a very powerful message to its audience: that the media should neither be taken lightly nor should it taken for granted. When UBS used Beale to increase its ratings, they did not anticipate that in the end, they would have a conflict with the White House or even losing all of those viewership. The media, including TV, movies, books, music, films, radio and etc, can be a very influential force. It should be used responsibly since the consequences of lightly approached actions are detrimental.

            In conclusion, Network has many main ideas as well as sub-ideas. Some points hit the audience loud and obvious while others stay well within context, those can get mixed or even lost. I would definitely recommend this movie because it is such a good example of how the media industry works and it shows the extent of how far some may go for greed. Although these ideas are nothing new, the way that director Sidney Lumet incorporates them into Network is just astonishing and well polished.

Works Cited

Network. Dir. Sidney Lumet. Perf. Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch, Robert Duvall.1976. Film.

"Network (Film). " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_(film). Wikipedia.org, n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2012.

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