Howard Beale and Glenn Beck

While watching the film Network, I was interested to see all of the similarities between the character of Howard Beale and Glenn Beck from Fox News. I know that Dr. Hanson had said that Glenn Beck likes to compare himself to Howard Beale, but I was a little surprised to see how similar they really are to one another. Both men are in my mind absolutely crazy, and scream about the world ending and how awful people have become due to the problems around us. I think that Glenn Beck is spot on when comparing himself to Beale because he is at least as crazy as Beale, if not more so.

I also think that the way that UBS was trying to capture ratings by using a personality like Beale is similar to what Fox News and other news outlets are doing today. It is not uncommon to turn to a news channel and see someone yelling about their own opinions on an issue while stretching the truth. I think that Glenn Beck is the perfect example of someone trying to mislead the public into believing in his own agenda. I think men like Glenn Beck are extremely dangerous, because there are so many people out there that only believe what they hear on television. When programs like the Howard Beale Show and the Glenn Beck Program throw things way out of proportion it is easy to get people stirred up.

I thought the parts of Network where Beale would pass out on the air were hilarious. It is just like a television network to exploit something like that to get people to watch their programming. It is all about having something that the other networks don't have, which is why we see so many different types of people on the different channels. I think that the character of Diana is a perfect example of most of the people working in television today. She is the head of programming, which has been carried over to the news side of the network. She sees an opportunity in Beale to make UBS a more successful network. He may be unstable, but he can make the network a lot of money. That is what it all comes down to: Television networks want to make as big of a profit as possible. That is why people like Glenn Beck are so prevalent on television. Even if they don't agree with what he has to say, many people tune in to see what crazy thing is going to come out of his mouth.

It actually makes me happy that Glenn Beck compares himself to Howard Beale. It gives me hope that he too will have a downfall. I of course don't mean to suggest that I hope he has the same end as Beale, because that is something that a crazy person like Beck would say. I just have hope that one day people will finally see that he is a complete lunatic that needs to be taken off the air. The only way to accomplish this is to stop watching his program. As long as Fox News is getting the ratings, Beck will stay on the air. I also think that a network like Fox would be willing to take a hit like UBS did to keep pushing their extremely conservative agenda. Here's hoping that the Glenn Beck Program proves to be as much of a failure as the Howard Beale Show.