The Truman Show & 9 Other Sharp Satires Of The Media
The Truman Show & 9 Other Sharp Satires Of The Media
From The Truman Show to Network, many great movies lampoon the sensational side of journalism and the cutthroat underbelly of the entertainment world.
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The media is ripe for satire. The extreme lengths to which network executives will go for ratings, the cutthroat competitive nature of the entertainment industry, the sensationalism and fearmongering of the 24-hour news cycle, people’s willingness to be exploited just to appear on TV — the jokes practically write themselves.
Peter Weir’s The Truman Show is a sharp lampoon of the media, with Jim Carrey bringing a healthy dose of zany humor to Andrew Niccol’s Twilight Zone-esque screenplay about a man who has no idea his entire life is a reality show. But it’s just one of many movies that have taken satirical aim at the media machine.
10 The Truman Show (1998)
Jim Carrey stars in The Truman Show as a mild-mannered everyman who has no idea that he’s the star of a 24-hour documentary series. Viewers across the world have been tuning in since he was born to follow the mundane events of his life in a closed-off seaside town.
When he begins to suspect something’s up, Truman desperately tries to escape from his televised trappings. While the sadistic director would rather kill Truman on the air than let him escape, Truman’s widespread viewer base roots for him.
9 Bamboozled (2000)
Although it was underappreciated upon release, Spike Lee’s Bamboozled has since become a cult classic. Damon Wayans stars as a frustrated TV writer whose scripts depicting African-Americans in a positive light are dismissed as Cosby Show rip-offs.
He conceives a minstrel show starring black actors in blackface with the intention of getting fired but the offensive show becomes a hit.
8 Ace In The Hole (1951)
Billy Wilder’s film noir Ace in the Hole stars Kirk Douglas as a journalist struggling to get by, looking for the next big news story, who comes across a man trapped in a cave-in. He begins exploiting this crisis to generate headlines.
This movie originated the notion of a media circus, with news teams and spectators showing up to follow the developments of the cave-in.
7 Natural Born Killers (1994)
In the ‘90s, when the media was sensationalizing the crimes of celebrities like Tonya Harding, Lorena Bobbitt, and O.J. Simpson, Oliver Stone retooled Quentin Tarantino’s early script Natural Born Killers — which could best be described as Bonnie and Clyde on acid — as a satirical thriller about two murderous lovebirds with a cult following.
Robert Downey Jr. co-stars as a journalist who exploits people’s gruesome crimes for entertainment. Stone’s movie draws a parallel between the amorality of violence and the amorality of a media landscape that glamorizes it.
6 Bulworth (1998)
Warren Beatty directed, co-produced, and co-wrote Bulworth in addition to playing the title role, a disgraced U.S. senator who gives up on his political career and orders a hit on himself to ensure his family will enjoy a big insurance payout.
No longer concerned about his reputation, Bulworth spends his last few days going in front of the press and saying whatever he likes.
5 Nightcrawler (2014)
Sort of like a modern-day Ace in the Hole, Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler tells the story of a disturbed loner played by Jake Gyllenhaal who finds purpose in his life when he takes up a video camera and starts chasing crimes around L.A. and selling the footage to news stations.
As his mind goes deeper down the rabbit hole, he begins to actively participate in the atrocities he documents, blurring the line between reporting news and creating it.
4 Wag The Dog (1997)
With a big election coming up and a sex scandal involving the President about to become public knowledge, a Washington spin doctor teams up with a Hollywood producer to manufacture a war to cover it up.
Barry Levinson’s Wag the Dog is one of the most popular political satires ever made. The star-studded cast is anchored by the double whammy of Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro.
3 Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy (2004)
Will Ferrell made an icon out of the lead character in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, basing his performance on real-life newsman Mort Crim.
Underneath all the unabashed absurdity of gags like the battle of the news teams and “I’m in a glass case of emotion!” is a pointed satire of the Action News format and sexism in male-dominated workplaces.
2 Being There (1979)
Hal Ashby’s Being There stars Peter Sellers as a simple-minded man named Chance who has spent his whole life tending to the garden of a wealthy old man and residing in his townhouse. When the man dies, Chance is kicked out of the house and has to find a way to survive knowing only what he’s learned from television.
He meets a political advisor, who mistakes him for a rich man who has fallen on hard times. His wife mishears “Chance, the gardener” as “Chauncey Gardiner.” After the President mistakes his literal explanation of gardening for metaphorical advice about the economy, “Chauncey Gardiner” quickly becomes the hottest new advisor in Washington and a nationwide celebrity. He makes TV appearances and viewers hang off his every word.
1 Network (1976)
Peter Finch became the first actor to win a posthumous Oscar (and remained the only one until Heath Ledger’s win for The Dark Knight) with his portrayal of news anchor Howard Beale in Sidney Lumet’s satirical masterpiece Network. While Finch, Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Robert Duvall, and Ned Beatty all give incredible performances in this movie, the true star is the script their performances brought to life, written by Paddy Chayefsky.
After promising to commit suicide on the air, Howard becomes a ratings sensation, and network executives immediately pounce on the opportunity to exploit it. He eventually becomes a sort of modern-day prophet with a fanatical following.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/meaningful-critical-satires-media-truman-show-other-movies/
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