FOX New's Howard Beale

"I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!"




This is the famous "Mad as Hell" rant by a disturbed Howard Beale in the 1976 movie "Network" - about the demise of network news.

Beale became a caricature after breaking down on live TV. While it was clear to Beale's friends he was mentally unstable, the network execs saw ratings sky-rocket, while viewers held onto his every word. They gave him his own pulpit to spew on whatever he felt needed spewing - and the viewers kept watching.

I watched this movie for the first time in years last night, and I couldn't help but think "This guy sounds familiar..."

Turns out we have a modern day "Howard Beale". Someone that spews on and on - without much direction - but is thrown on television night after night - not for the coherent arguments, but rather, Ratings.

Sarah Palin is our modern day Howard Beale. And FOX News is reaping the benefits with the ratings. Palin is a walking talking point - whatever is written on her hand that day - and for some reason, people watch.

I can't help but think Palin is drawing on the same sentiment Howard Beale tapped into on "Network" over 30 years ago: Madness, Anger, and Depression.

Beale didn't offer any solutions to the problems of the day - he chose to yell and scream that he was mad as hell, that the world was against 'us', and that anger was the best solution. He was stuck in a worldview that the United States was the be-all-and-end-all in the world, and that anyone different than 'us' was a threat.

Sound familiar?

Sure did love the zingers on all that "Hopey-Changey" stuff... had a lot of fun playing off the perception that the stimulus wasn't working... but sure as hell didn't offer a lot of solutions.

Did it get ratings? Umm... have you watched any cable news? Clearly people are interested. But the disheartening part is that we haven't learned anything since 1976... people who are mentally unstable - or at least mentally unsuited - are given such a forum.

That makes me as mad as hell.