A closer look at a scene from the film 'Network'

A perspective of the film 'Network'

Sydney Lumet's 'Network' describes the transformation of news into entertainment and propaganda.

It’s ironic that the film makes a comparison between how society responds to real news and how society responds to spectacle, again a commentary on how entertainment has dumbed down an American society that prefers titillation over facts and rational analysis. For example, Diana points out that when Beale said the word “shit” on the air the show’s ratings—and his popularity- went up by 5 points. And now, the biggest newspapers in the country are lavishing free press on the television station because of Howard Beale’s unpredictable behavior instead of the actual news content of the show itself. Although Howard is stirring the people up on righteous issues, the attention seems to be more on “how” he delivers that message rather than on the message itself.