I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore! - This movie is a lot longer than ever expected.

Network, 1976
Network



I remember watching a short clip from the movie during film school; however I can't remember why we watched the clip or which class we watched the clip in for that matter. Since watching the clip in class, I've wanted to see the movie in its entirety for a while now. The clip we were shown was the, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore." I think the reasoning behind watching the clip in class may have had something to do with the kind of affect the media has on people as well as the amount of influence the media has over us.

After having watched the movie:
(Possible spoilers below)

I really liked this movie until Beale becomes the host of his own TV show where he is free to rant and rave about the things going on in the world today. I lost interest in the story and I didn't really like Faye Dunaways character, Diana. The biggest problem I had with Diana was believing that she would be so focused and driven as a producer that she starts trying to storyboard and produce her own life. However as backwards as it may seem, I think Faye Dunaway did an amazing job in the movie.

Even though I realize there are professionals who go to great lengths to recreate looks from past decades I got excited when the movie first started and I forgot it wasn't a modern movie set in a past decade. I think because I had seen the movie Good Night and Good Luck in theaters, that when I finally watched Network I had imagined the movie (Network) to have been made later than it actually had been. I caught myself making mental notes of how "authentic" all the wardrobe pieces looked. I feel a little silly admitting it because the movie that I thought was set in the 1970s was actually made in 1976. Thus creating the "authentic" looks. I guess I just get so tired of seeing people automatically associate one fad with an entire decade and then seeing it become exploited. The best example I can think of is a poodle skirt, it's one of the first thing people associate with the 1950s and it doesn't appeal to me anymore. I remember when I was in high school having to dress up for a 1970s show and I hated the halfhearted attempt to recreate the look.

Final thoughts: While it's true that I lost interest in the movie once Beale was given his own TV show as an Entertainment News Anchor I would have been interested in the investigation that would have followed his murder.

OFFICIAL COUNT 50 DOWN 315 TO GO

Next up: High Noon