I don’t have cable TV, so the only news I see if from the 3 broadcasting networks and their local affiliates. To be honest, I never watch the national new due to not turning on the TV until the kids are in bed. I rarely watch the local news, because I would rather be entertained by reruns of the King of Queens and the fact the local news is a joke. I have to admit it is fun to watch the local news occasionally to make fun of it – in the way where I am talking back to the TV and making fun of their lame attempts of humor. (By the way, I think Anchorman is a funny movie in that aspect.) A lot of times I am yelling at the TV “why do I need to know that.” And I hate the fact that they spend so much time telling you what is coming up in the broadcast. They will show you these little teaser clips and when you finally watch that segment, you gain no new information or clips than what was in the teaser. The local news is a complete waste of time.
This weekend I watched a movie that was really refreshing in its statement about television and the News shows. The movie was Goodnight, and Good Luck. It is a historical piece about at time in our history that I do not know much about: the birth of television (and its news shows) and McCarthy’s quest to find all communist subversives in America. It is a historical view of CBS’s Ed Murrow and his taking on of McCarthy.
The movie itself has so much style – filmed in black and white with cigarette smoke everywhere. There are a lot of great shots with rich shadows. The movie also features a lot of great quotes from Ed Murrow, which seem prophetic put into today’s context. I see this film as one that will be shown in schools.
To those who say people wouldn't look; they wouldn't be interested; they're too complacent, indifferent and insulated, I can only reply: There is, in one reporter's opinion, considerable evidence against that contention. But even if they are right, what have they got to lose? Because if they are right, and this instrument is good for nothing but to entertain, amuse and insulate, then the tube is flickering now and we will soon see that the whole struggle is lost.
This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box. There is a great and perhaps decisive battle to be fought against ignorance, intolerance and indifference. This weapon of television could be useful.
Stonewall Jackson, who knew something about the use of weapons, is reported to have said, "When war comes, you must draw the sword and throw away the scabbard." The trouble with television is that it is rusting in the scabbard during a battle for survival.
-Ed Murrow
10 comments:
this one is definately on my list. saddly, we go to b-buster so rarely during the regular season, I probably won't see it til summer reruns.
was this the one clooney was in / directed?
Gah, I just lost this post once!
I have only heard about this movie from you. Sounds good.
I have to agree about the local news, though. Right after I was laid off one of the local stations ran a teaser about an interview with someone who had also been laid off, but had figured out how to be successful in spite of it. It started with a phrase like, "Been laid off recently?" so I thought it might be relevant.
The story essentially followed this structure.
- Person X had a good job but was laid off
- Her situation was bad
- Now Person X has a better job than before
- You too can be successful like Person X
That was sure chalked full of useful information.
That still shot looks pretty cool. That was such a strange time - when men wore brimmed hats and ate at diners. Sometimes I almost believe that the world was just black and white back then - with lots of shadows!
Dash - yes this is Clooney's movie.
I have been looking forward to seeing this movie since it was in the "thought process" I heard George Clooney speak about it as a project he was getting ready to start. I just bought it, we'll see it in a couple weeks :) YAY! (Have to wait for shipping...bummer:( )
I hate local news. Magrelo and I like to watch local news when we're on vacation to see if their town is as lame as ours.(it almost always is!) Whenever there is an absolutely rediculous segment, we always discuss what tourists must be thinking of us after watching our news...
That's funny, Seminole.
The funniest thing to watch for is the facial expressions. Sometimes the eyebrows go crazy for added emphasis.
And then they always put the reporter live on location at an incident that is like 12 hours old and it is dark out and you can't see anything behind them.
I watched Goodnight, and Goodluck twice before I sent it back.
I hear the same things over again on the local news. "Somebody got shot on Troost St."
I remember Dar saying that he likes the African American anchorman for channel 5.
We will have to put that movie on our queue.
Golden,
Please don't make any racist comments on my blogsite.
:)
I need to see this movie. Wonder if the local DVD machine would cough it out for me. (They're not stores here, but machines.) We had a discussion today about the power of media. This could play into the project we were discussing.
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