In the 1997 Barry Levinson film Wag the Dog, a Hollywood spin doctor (Robert De Niro) is consulted to try and sway public attention away from a sex scandal conducted by the President of the United States (who is not named in the film). In order to do this, he consults a Hollywood producer (Dustin Hoffman) to help manufacture a war in Albania in order to keep the media's attention focused on that. All of the Hollywood producer Stanley Motss' resources are pulled in to accomplish this feat - country music singers create a theme song, filmmakers fake footage to show the "atrocities" happening in Albania, and bringing in an Army prisoner (Woody Harrelson) to act as their tragic hero behind the lines. All of this culminates in the president's re-election, though this is shown to be not the doing of the elaborate plan, but the president's own campaign slogan. The film is a scathing indictment of the interaction between politics and the media; the media itself is shown as a powerful and insidious tool used to trick the American public from not having all the facts, effectively attempting to "fix" an election. The film shows just how easy it is to manipulate the media to suit a political agenda, and how it may have happened before.
The beginning of the film demonstrates the film's clear theme of American media politics, and the manipulation of facts to deceive the public. The film opens with the famous expression that explains the title of the film: "Why does the dog wag its tail? Because the dog is smarter than the tail. If the tail were smarter, it would wag the dog." I feel as though this hits at the heart of the film, and American politics in general - the fake war in Alberia, and Motss' efforts, are akin to the dog wagging its tail. In this example, the tail is the American public, following what Motss, as the dog, is telling it to do. The film itself appears to have a very accurate, if exaggerated, picture of American politics; while it is clear that the government has not as yet completely manufactured a war to distract the public, facts and events can certainly be pushed to the forefront in order to distract the public from certain unsavory or uncomfortable news stories about elected officials. The media loves a scandal, but they will prioritize them; when the Anthony Weiner sex scandal came out, it dominated the airwaves to the point where any real political discourse (read: the actual actions of Congressmen and women as they discussed health care reform) was buried. It is not unreasonable to think that the media can be manipulated in this way to keep the public's mind and outrage on minor things so that they can discuss more important issues without their eye looming over.
The film makes a number of implications about the American public and its voting habits, as well as its dependence on the media to derive information. The American public can only really get their news from the news media, which is what they use to form their opinions on who to vote for and why. In the case of the film, Motss and De Niro's character, Brean, are attempting to obscure a real scandal (the President's sex scandal) with a fake war that could galvanize the public in support of him. The real nail in the coffin for American voting is the notion that the public did not care about that issue at all. Once the president gets re-elected, Motss is furious that the media is reporting it being due to the president's boring and trite slogan, "Don't change horses in mid stream." While it is implied that the fake war did the job, and Motss is just furious that the media don't give him credit for it, it is possible that the American public ignored it entirely and actually believed in that slogan. There are many Americans who believe that you just don't change presidents in the middle of a war - this was a big reason people used for voting for G.W. Bush in 2004, since the Iraq War/War on Terror was still ongoing.
What antidotes or actions would you suggest to cure this problem?
The influence of all the cliched, patriotic beats shown throughout the film, like the country theme song created by Willie Nelson's character, to the fake Special Forces unit that is designed and created to fight the "war" in Albania, is great. These media spin specialists are experts at knowing what pulls on the heartstrings of the American public, much like what happened after 9/11. While the event was a national tragedy, the media also played up the nationalism and jingoism that resulted from it - from the Toby Keith songs (not unlike Willie Nelson in this film) to a surge of "Support Our Troops" efforts. While these are admirable, the public must learn to keep a more critical eye on the actions of its country, and what it is doing to address the problems that it has, instead of merely jumping forward with these empty displays of patriotism. The media must also show a greater dedication to objective journalism, and hardworking integrity, instead of becoming a slave to corporate interests and merely listening to what they want to hear.
Wag the Dog demonstrates a cynical, yet eerily accurate, portrait of the way facts are obfuscated for the media to transmit to an unknowing public. Elections are influenced and emotions are manipulated to get people to do what ashadowy elite want them to do. This film warns us, though comedically, about the dangers of believing everything we hear from the media "dog"; if we learn to be "smarter" about our media consumption and literacy, we may be able to "wag the dog" ourselves.
References
Levinson, B. Dir. (1997). Wag the Dog. Perf. Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Anne Heche.
New Line Cinema.
