Extra Credit--Counts as TWO Blog Posts:
View one of the following films: Quiz Show (1994) OR Good Night, and Good Luck (2005). Both are available at Askwith Media Center or on reserve at the Donald Hall Collection.
Keeping in mind that both of these films offer fictionalized renderings of historical circumstances, write a minimum of 400 words explaining how either the quiz show scandals (as depicted by Quiz Show) or Edward R. Murrow’s exposé of McCarthyism (as portrayed in Good Night, and Good Luck) had political results during the 1950s and shifted ideas about the medium of television and its specific genres (quiz shows or news programs).
Quiz Show worked to reveal that even supposedly real television programs, like Twenty One, could be dishonestly predetermined or even scripted like a sitcom, with the results rigged for the best ratings. The Quiz Show Scandal received so much attention from the public because of the exposure of its contestants. When this exposure was matched with the political backlash of the subpoenas against the contestants and the network executives, it seemed that the American audience shifted their focus from Twenty One and looked to these hearings around the scandal for the truth. In the film Dick Goodwin (Rob Morrow), who worked as special counsel to the Legislative Oversight Subcommittee, traveled to New York to discover the truth behind the a grand jury’s hearing regarding the show. The character of Goodwin transitions the story of the quiz show scandal into the world of the political. Goodwin states, at the end of the movie when Dan Enright (David Paymer) takes full responsibilities for the corruption of the show, “I thought we were gonna get television. The truth is... television is gonna get us.” Goodwin wanted to prove that there was corruption within the television industry. If these lies are being perpetuated throughout a whole network, what other lies and shady business is going on? Goodwin is supposed to act as the enemy of television in this film, and in opposition television is seen as an enemy to him. In one seen he is seen smoking in his bedroom, which his wife disdains and commands him to smoke elsewhere. To this Goodwin remarks confusedly, that cigarettes are not allowed in the bed room, but a TV is? Goodwin’s comparison of a cigarette, which actually causes serious diseases, to the television elicits an understanding of this character’s relationship to the relatively new medium.
ReplyDeleteThrough this film we are able to understand the shift in the viewing public regarding the television medium. There is a loss of trust in Quiz Show. During Van Doren’s (Paul Scofeild) testimony the crowd cheers when one of the jury members scolds the TV celebrity for his cheating. These were once fans of the very same man that they are now rooting against. They have lost their trust in him and are now rising against him. If we see Van Doren’s character as a metonym for the TV industry this seen could be seen as a shift in the television audiences blindness or naivety. They now see that TV is all smoke and mirrors, even a genre that claims to be unscripted and unrehearsed.
From its birth, television has always been regarded as a medium that has stirred up controversy, and no controversy has been quite as scandalous and influential on the population’s opinion on the medium as the Quiz show Scandals in the 1950s. It was revealed that many of the general population’s favorite quiz shows had been rigged so that contestants whom they favored would stay longer, which included coaching the contestants and giving them the questions and answers before the upcoming show. Robert Redford depicted the events that transpired during this period in his Academy Award Nominated film Quiz Show, which not only relayed the inner workings of the network heads and producers who promoted this dishonesty, but also delved deep into how they were eventually brought down and the political results this had, as well as the shift of the population’s view on television due to this event.
ReplyDeleteIn Redford’s film Quiz Show, which is based on Richard Goodwin’s memoir Remembering America: A Voice from the Sixties, Dick Goodwin, a congressional investigator begins to suspect that the popular game show “21” was feeding its popular contestants the correct answers as a means to keep them on the show thereby improving the show’s ratings. Through his continued investigation Goodwin was able to gather enough evidence and testimony to prove of the shows’ dishonesty, which subsequently brought congress into the matter. Testimonies from Herbert Stempel and Charles Van Doren ultimately lead to the downfall of these game shows as well as the end of many of these producers’ careers. One producer, Dan Enright, made the following argument in his congressional interview, “The Sponsor makes out, the Network makes out, the contestants see money than they would ever see in a lifetime, and the public is entertained. So who gets hurt?” However, shortly after these confessions by producers and contestants alike, congress made the move to pass the 1960 amendments to the Communications Act of 1934, which explicitly banned the fixing of any game shows.
As well as having an effect the political aspect, these scandals also caused the population to shift their views of television. Many initially saw television as an artistic medium that was able to create this sense of “being there,” as well as promote “faith in TV’s status as a document.” Many people questioned the authenticity of television and whether the sights and sounds they were seeing and hearing were genuine, or manifested by big network companies attempting to create what they believed to be entertainment. As the FCC continued their investigation of major television companies, many network heads retorted that, “...TV was show business offering dramatic entertainment and therefore TV should not be expected to be real.” After the Quiz Show scandal reached a head, many quiz shows on various networks were discontinued due to the continued uproar and questioning of the authenticity of these shows. A poignant and rather haunting example of the audience’s shift in opinions of television was witnessed in Quiz Show’s final scene, where once beloved contestant Charles Van Doren gave a moving speech of his involvement in the scandal and vehemently apologized for the sins he committed. Many of of judges stated that they found his speech to be moving and that his apology was enough. However, one judge simply stated that though Van Doren made this apology, ultimately Van Doren was too intelligent of a man to make such a selfish and foolish mistake, his apology was not enough. To this, the entire audience burst into frenzied applause, a man they once loved and worshiped, they now jeered and condemned. And so as their views of Van Doren shifted, this was paralleled with their views of television. What they once trusted and admired turned against them, and for that, they were no longer able to truly trust.
The Quiz Show Scandals of the 1950s were an eye-opening time for the American population. When television sets entered the homes of families across the nation, watching TV not only united citizens across the country, but also became a time when families could come together and spend some quality time with one another. Each week millions of people tuned in to game shows like "Twenty One" and "The $64,000 Question" to see everyday people get the chance to win amazing cash prizes. However, when it was revealed that these shows were rigged and these contestants that they had come to love weren't as genuine as they had appeared, the American public found it hard to truly trust what they saw on the television screen. They had welcomed these shows, contestants and networks into their home, and were devastated to learn that they had been deceived.
ReplyDeleteAlthough a fictional representation of the actual events of the Quiz Show Scandals, Robert Redford's Quiz Show attempts to shed light on this politically heated moment in the history of the television industry. The film showcased life inside of the industry and how the need for high ratings and profit as well as the lack of regulations led the network executives and producers to fix the outcomes of popular game shows. Additionally, it depicted the consequences of their dishonest actions when the scandal was eventually made public. In the film, the producers of Twenty One, Dan Enright (David Paymer) and Albert Freedman (Hank Azaria), are portrayed as evil and conniving members of the industry. They are constantly trying to persuade contestants like Herb Stemple (John Turturro) and Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes) to continue with the scheme. Additionally, they lie and find ways to get themselves out of trouble during Dick Goodman's (Rob Morrow) investigation of the show. While the contestants could've stopped the facade at any moment, they weren't necessarily portrayed as having done any wrongdoing in comparison to their "employers". Yet, as the film concludes, it would appear that the networks and sponsors weren't the ones who took the heat for the scandals, but the contestants and producers who were just doing what those above them were telling them to do.
After many games shows revealed to have had fixed outcomes, the game shows genre took a big hit. Many networks either placed a winnings limit for contestants or canceled their existing quiz shows all together, as they feared the public would discontinue to watch. To insure that something like this didn't happen again, the United States Congress passed the 1960 amendments of the Communications Act of 1934, preventing anyone from fixing quiz shows. While The Quiz Show Scandals of the 1950s showcase an extremely negative aspect of television, they were an important part of the history of television, leading the way for more regulation on this booming industry.
The movie goodnight and good luck opens with a scene of Edward Murrow accepting a award for his achievement in journalism. In his acceptance of this award he gives a speech that talks about the role of television in the lives of all Americans not only those who watch it but those who work at it as well. From here the movie enters a flashback to more poignantly illustrate his point. The flashback mainly focuses on his face off against senator McCarthy who at the time was ruling the airwaves with his vehement attack on communism. Because of his mass influence many reporters themselves were afraid to run any pieces that held an opposing opinion for fear that they would labeled a communist and lose their jobs or potentially be deported from the country. From here the story focuses on how Edward Murrow focuses on the details of a case that was had no evidence other than speculation and he has decided that was too far. This illustrated a point that he made in his earlier monologue about television being insular. A lot of McCarthy's protest encouraged group think mentality which over the mass media medium is a very dangerous. The biggest risk involved with group think over television is the lack of freedom and the constriction of civil liberties. also another risk is the fact that it would promote the ideals of one political party over another making America more imperialistic. One of the scenes in the movie that has interesting factual reference was the scene in which he actually challenged Senator McCarthy on some of his speaking points during a hearing in which he decided on a person's affiliation with the community party. Edward murrow specifically called out organiztions that were not affiliated with the communist party that McCarthy said were. In McCarthy's personal rebuttal he never addressed his the mistakes he made in misnaming organizations for the communist party. Murrow called him out for this saying because the senator never addressed the comments he must also know that they were true. This helped many Americans see how exaggerated many of his claim were. This resulted in much of the public mistrusting the senator overall. Another point that Murrow brought up was the television only used for entertainment. This point was illustrated in the end of the film when after Murrow's victory against McCarthy he was still forced to move his show because the ratings were not as high as the quiz shows.
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