History Repeats Itself

I just watched Good Night and Good Luck. Earlier films have dealt with the communist scare and America's anti soviet cold war sentiment. Good Night and Good Luck comes as a welcomed addition, and compares favorably with films such as The Front and the television movie Fear on Trial. Although on the surface Good Night and Good Luck appears to be a dated story about the cold war, it's actually a commentary on the role mass news media plays in shaping the public's perception and our political climate.

The parallels to our current political climate in this film are quite clear. The only difference is that today it's the middle east and terrorists, instead of communists, as well as homeland security and the patriot act instead of blacklists. We should also remember that Afghanistan was a major battle ground between the Soviet Union and the U.S. toward the end of the cold war, and many middle eastern countries such as Iraq and Iran relied on the Soviet union as their black market arms supplier. So our current problems in the middle east stem directly from the cold war and our past tensions with the former Soviet union.

I think Good Night and Good Luck's subject matter is actually more relevant today than it would have been in the 1950's. The reason is because our modern society is much more electronically equipped and media driven than it was in the 1950's. In the 1950's, television was just starting to develop a market. Back then, most average citizens didn't own a TV. They mainly relied on newspapers and radio to receive their news. Today, almost everyone has a TV, unless you're homeless or live in the woods. And even then, you still have access to television in public venues. In addition to television, we also have computers and the Internet, which boasts just as many users as television, if not more.

Murrow's formal speech, which begins and ends the film's story, is itself a prophetic and sobering commentary and condemnation of the possibilities of television and media, and foretells the future with stark accuracy. It shows the influence of media and its ability to make a difference. If you're a politician, the media has the power to build you up or tear you down at will, and often poses a greater threat to our national security than the foreign "enemies" it reports on.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_R_Murrow