When a movie called “Network” came out in 1975, it was outlandish satire of something that could never possibly happen. But it doesn’t seem like a parody anymore. It just seems like a drama about people who are very much like incompetent bullies who appear on your television “news” channels today.
In 1975, news was a serious business. The men and women who produced newspapers and broadcast news saw themselves as responsible people who the public trusted to be serious and accountable.
In “Network,” writer Paddy Chayefsky was asking what would happen if news turned into entertainment and nothing about television mattered except ratings. He intended his movie to be a warning, but it’s turned into a blueprint for chaos in modern culture.
Few people listened to the warning — and politicians such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Donald Trump are the result.