On one level, I think Barry Levinson's Wag the Dog asks that we not take it too seriously. Yes, there are clever political points, and yes, there is something to be learned here, but I think the first message that must be considered is the film's humorous and satirical intent. If there are political statements or accusations in the film, they are leveled much less severely than in films like The Candidate or Bob Roberts. Levinson handles the political issues softly and almost joyfully; there is no anger in this film. While it certainly has a few not-so-subtle political points to make, it seems like Wag the Dog is more of an exercise in amusement than righteous indignation. Instead of shaking our heads in fury at the film's end, we are left shaking our heads in disbelief. And laughing at some of the jokes.
This could have been a barrier to the film's message, but I think it helps it in this case. This is a fun movie to watch, and I think it has some good things to say about Washington and Hollywood, as well as how Americans can be controlled by the media. I'm not sure I would have been as open to these ideas without the film's humor easing me into them.
It begins with an outlandish (although frighteningly plausible) inciting event: two weeks before an election, the President of the United States behaves less than admirably (think Clinton-Lewinsky) and his adviser Winifred Ames (Anne Heche) and a political spin doctor named Conrad Brean (Robert De Niro) devise a plan to fake a war with Albania, using the news media as their unwitting ally. They enlist Hollywood producer Stanley Motss (Dustin Hoffman in one of his funniest performances) to put together a media campaign concerning the war.
Then Levinson and his actors do a very interesting thing with these characters: they make them likable. We get caught up in the scheme and, although we fully realize what they are doing is deplorable, we kind of want them to succeed. This makes the film work on a narrative level; we have protagonists and objectives and conflict; the only problem is that here our protagonists are lying to the American people in order to win an election. All the while, Wag the Dog remains hilarious.
The idea has been presented that American voters (as well as the news media) are being portrayed as morons for buying into this ridiculous scheme, but I don't think that's true. The film shows Ames, Brean, and Motss going to whatever lengths necessary to insure the facade is believable, so it seems to me that it should be believable to the voters they are trying to dupe. These characters are presented as so crafty and devious that I think the film makes more of a statement about the underhanded and often absurd things people in Washington are willing to do in order to fool us. The American people are victims here.
The film also seems to be saying something about the way in which the political world mirrors Hollywood. The fact that Hoffman's character is so good at putting together this fake campaign is a hilarious indicator of this point. And maybe it's my political paranoia, but I can also sense a theme of media control popping up here and there. All Brean has to do is convince the media of the legitimacy of his fake war. Then they convince the American people for him.
Then Levinson and his actors do a very interesting thing with these characters: they make them likable. We get caught up in the scheme and, although we fully realize what they are doing is deplorable, we kind of want them to succeed. This makes the film work on a narrative level; we have protagonists and objectives and conflict; the only problem is that here our protagonists are lying to the American people in order to win an election. All the while, Wag the Dog remains hilarious.
The idea has been presented that American voters (as well as the news media) are being portrayed as morons for buying into this ridiculous scheme, but I don't think that's true. The film shows Ames, Brean, and Motss going to whatever lengths necessary to insure the facade is believable, so it seems to me that it should be believable to the voters they are trying to dupe. These characters are presented as so crafty and devious that I think the film makes more of a statement about the underhanded and often absurd things people in Washington are willing to do in order to fool us. The American people are victims here.
The film also seems to be saying something about the way in which the political world mirrors Hollywood. The fact that Hoffman's character is so good at putting together this fake campaign is a hilarious indicator of this point. And maybe it's my political paranoia, but I can also sense a theme of media control popping up here and there. All Brean has to do is convince the media of the legitimacy of his fake war. Then they convince the American people for him.
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