Movie "Quiz Show" could portray the media

I finally watched the 1994 Robert Redford movie, Quiz Show. I’m not going to take time to name the actors/actresses, it’s easy to look up. The storyline is that being a successful television show isn’t enough – the new head honcho wants to sell product, in this case Geritol. To that end, a plot is devised to rig a “quiz show,” by predetermining who the winners and losers would be.

Moving very quickly to my point today, suffice it to say, that is exactly what the media is doing today. The media long ago ceased to be satisfied simply reporting the news. The deliverers of the news complicit with their owners of the leviathans called cable news networks – conspire to not just report the news, but to create it and determine the effect of its outcome. In the 1997 James Bond movie, “Tomorrow Never Sleeps,” the criminal lead Elliot Carver says: “Good morning my golden retrievers. What kind of havoc shall the Carver Media Group create in the world today? News?” The reply from one of his newsman is: “Floods in Pakistan, riots in Paris, and a plane crash in California.” To which Carver replies ebulliently, “Outstanding.”

They weren’t just going to report the news as a noun, i.e., person, place, thing with the when, where, and how – they were going to create the catastrophe they would report about. It was power and control. For people like that, power and control are more of a aphrodisiac than money and privilege. And, that my friends, is what it all comes down to.

It’s like the game show in the movie “Quiz Show.” Being successful isn’t enough – they need to control and manipulate. They need to predetermine the outcome. They need to control the minds and moods of the people to effect desired outcomes. And exactly like the in studio audience – in the at home viewing audience many people do not want to have their blinders taken off. As long as they keep said firmly in place, they are comfortable in the make believe land created by commercials. Commercials are the viscous financial lubricant that keeps their engine of falsity steaming robustly alone.

The viewers buy into the bling, the blond eye candy, and the male host who gives the illusion of success and purpose. In reality it’s all a charade, a staged event played out on an elaborate sound stage, designed to give the illusion of participation.

At the end of the movie, one of the bigwigs says: the sponsor and network made out, because of the huge amount of Geritol sold. The contestants made more money than they could have ever imagined possible, and the viewers were entertained.

That is what it comes down too. We are to be entertained, and in this specific instance the candidate is given a bone and a collar. The bone is their dinner and the collar equipped with the ability to give them a shock – is used too remind them know who their masters are.

Ours is to be kept entertained. But all of that has been changing since even before the advent of the Tea Party. People have ben waking up to the realization that the game is rigged and we are being deluded into believing we are making a difference. That argument made before would have been factual – but those tides are changing.

Therein will come the tricks and back room deals and machinations viewed at the end of the movie Quiz Show. But, unlike the good guy character in Quiz Show, we are not bound by the rules of jurisprudence. We have faith, truth, righteous indignation, and a “we won’t be stopped” mentality, that refuses to be bought and/or controlled as in days past.

↑ Grab this Headline Animator

As Ronald Reagan said, “We have an appointment with destiny” and we will not be denied in keeping it. The media, the Republican hierarchy, Democrats, and wannabe sycophants and ideologues will try to convince us that we are wrong, but we know better. We can make a difference. We can impact the outcome of political and legislative events.

But we must be smart in how we go about it. It’s true that we will not be playing with the sam influence as lobbyists and mega-corporations. But we have things the media needs and the Parties must have. The media needs viewership and loyalty to program sponsors. The parties need our votes and money. Those are our bargaining chips. Withhold those keys things and we get their attention. When we not just withhold, but work to replace, dismantle, and build anew, we begin to change the dynamic and end the monopoly of incestuous tyranny.

When the media misrepresents the facts, and tries to wrongfully disparage our candidates there will be hell to pay. We are wiser and more engaged than at any time in decades. We impacted them in 2010 and we’ll do it in 2012. We must remember that neither party is our friend. It’s just that the Republicans most closely represent our values and interests. Our job is to create it over in our image and we do that one candidate at a time.