I’m as Mad as Hell and I’m Not Going to Take This… Or am I?
In 1976, the culture was reflected in the movie Network. Network was written by Paddy Chayefsky and directed by Sidney Lumet. Network was a reflection of the day and the frustration that was collectively felt by society. The catch phrase, “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore,” has been quoted numerous times and continues to reflect the frustration of the masses, some 34 years after the movie was released. Headlines from the year 1976:
– Patty Hearst Is Found Guilty Of Bank Robbery
– Supreme Court Allows Removal Of Karen Quinlan’s Life Support Systems
– Democrats Nominate Jimmy Charter For President
– OPEC Announces 5-10% Oil Price Hike
– Supreme Court Rules Capital Punishment Is Constitutional
– Nixon says Kissinger Aides’ phones were tapped
– US and Iran sign 10 Billion-dollar arms sale
– Two amateur electronics enthusiasts develop the Apple computer in a garage
– Farrah Fawcett-majors posters become a fad
It would seem, through the eyes of retrospection that the 1976ers were not struggling with complex times as to prompt a powerful coup d’culturel. However, they were experiencing the anger and frustration of an economic “depression,” job loss, higher crime, greed, social apathy, a banking crisis, isolationism and lacking leadership. Strangely similar to the frustration we feel today.
In comparison to the headlines of October 14th 2010:
BINT JBEIL, Lebanon – Thousands of Hezbollah supporters jammed a stadium in southern Lebanon Thursday ahead of a visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that will take him to within a couple miles of the Israeli border – a trip that the U.S. and Israel have called intentionally provocative.
Washington a total of 288,345 properties were lost to foreclosure in the July-September quarter, according to data released Thursday by RealtyTrac Inc., a foreclosure listing service. That’s up from nearly 270,000 in the second quarter, the previous high point in the firm’s records dating back to 2005.
WASHINGTON — Some officers and service members say they are uncertain how to react while the law banning gays from serving openly in the military is in limbo.
FORT HOOD, Texas — A wounded soldier with a clear path to the exit refused to leave his fallen comrade behind even as a gunman fired off shots near them during last year’s deadly rampage at the Fort Hood Army base, a military court heard Thursday.
So, where is our social outrage? Where is our call to personal action or our collective screams of, “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore?” Who is the present day Howard Beale? (Peter Finch) Our country is certainly frustrated, and in this frustration we are poised to witness what is quite possibly the largest exodus from the historically norm of the two party political system.
Today our country struggles with tremendous unemployment, mortgage foreclosures, greed and seemingly constant warfare or threats of warfare. Our social moment to rise up and scream has never been more needed. In 1976 the sentiment was, that due to mounting social problems, society became more isolated, as a socio-psychological defense mechanism.
Network depicts society in saying, “We know things are crazy! Everything, everywhere is going crazy, so we don’t go out anymore.” “We sit at home and slowly the world we’re living in is getting smaller.” “All we say is please leave us alone in our living rooms.”
These statements were from a time when only 3 television networks existed. Now we are barraged with countless news networks at any one time. We now crouch even tighter behind the sofa, ducking the constant assault of instant world news, reality television, Internet, or content on demand. Perhaps the moral outrage society felt in Network has been numbed to the point where issues just bounce off of our consciousness. Perhaps our outraged is filtered in so many ways that it takes an incredible event to even nudge us toward action. We hear about the emergence of The Tea Party and despite it being a third option of choice, Democrats and Republicans have negative comments based in their desire to maintain a power base. Left wing, right wing, centrists, neocons, absolutists, federalists, abolitionists, fascists, liberalists, capitalists, and populists. The list just keeps getting longer and who even cares anymore. Most of our newspapers are written at a third grade level and yet the majority of voters never read. Our news is focused on spoon-feeding the bigger picture with a spoon of bias and network reputation. Our catch phrase for the re-make of Network would undoubtedly be, “We’re as full as hell and we just don’t want anymore!”
Have we collectively reached a saturation point where we somehow feel that the “system” is so large and complicated that we the individual no longer matters? Strangely, Network addressed that unfortunate feeling way back in 1976, and if society was just noticing the loss of individuality then, where are we now? As Howard Beale said, “First you’ve got to get mad, you’ve got to say I’m a human being goddamn it, my life has value!”
Now, as was it then, the corporate leaders, the real power brokers remain somehow above the fray. Network Chairman Arthur Jensen (Ned Beatty) accurately represents the face of greed as he lectures Howard Beale on the reality of life. “There is no America, there is no democracy, only IBM, ITT, ATT, Dupont, Dow, Union Carbide and Exxon, these are the nations of the world today.” Jensen finishes by saying, “It is the International system of currency which determines the totality of life on this planet. That is the natural order of things today.” Globalization is certainly well defined, even for 1976.
Society needs a call to passionate action. We need a wake up call that drives us past the first, second and third layer of the procrastination filter. We can no longer become energized by hearing our neighbors scream a unifying, “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore,” although it would be nice. We can however, in the absence of windows from which to scream from, open our E-mail and raise our voices to a larger number of listeners in a more powerful and efficient manner. We could all agree that the greed for power and fortune has brought us to this uncomfortably uncertain ledge. We could also agree that returning to a simpler time where being an individual matters more, is not realistic. We can however, agree that the time is now to get mad and get up from the chair of apathetic acceptance and to scream, “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!”
Whether or not you support the Democratic Party, Republican Party, Independent Party, Libertarian or Tea Party, be passionate. Get deeply informed on the issues. Play a part in assuring that this country is representative of your interests, and hold our leaders accountable for campaign promises. Our country was founded on democracy and our early leaders were no strangers to the greed of power hungry men or polite respectful disagreements. Thomas Jefferson said, “Experience demands that man is the only animal which devours his own kind, for I can apply no milder term to the general prey of the rich on the poor.”
All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.
Thomas Jefferson
