Wag the Dog

A detailed Summary of Wag the Dog

"Wag the Dog" is a funny, but yet insightful movie, that provides a lot of insight into the world of politics. It provides remarkable resemblance to many events that has happened in this present time. This film touches on issues many aspects of the truth and the responsibilities we have as a society to insure that it is maintained. "Wag The Dog" demonstrates what kind of influences that politics, the media, and the entertainment world can have on public perceptions.

The plot of the film consists of the U.S. President running for a second term. There is only 11 days before the presidential election and he is accused of being sexually involved with a Firefly Girl in the Oval Office. In order to protect his image and save face with the American population, White House aide Winifred Ames brings in a spin-doctor named Conrad Brean. Brean, know as Mr. Fixit who is masterminded a lot of covering up scandals, has a motto: "to change the story, change the lead." To distract the press from the Firefly Girl scandal, he advises for the President to extend his trip in Asia in order to buy time to come up with a plan to take the media pressure off this scandal. Brean comes up with a phony international crisis with

Wag the Dog demonstrates the ability of the politics combined with media and entertainment industry substantial numbers of people in this country can be susceptible to the manipulations of the politicians, their consultants and the media. It reflects the freedom that we have as a society to express the truth as we see it as well as the responsibility to maintain the truth in a way that it doesn't jeopardize the integrity of our country as a society as a whole.

Even thought this movie wasn't based on a true story, it addresses a lot of issues that often arises in politics as well as society as a whole. "Wag the Dog," reflects how America has been susceptible to the mirage that leaders can hide themselves behind. The movie addresses numerous issues that exist in American society. It addresses the mass amounts of dishonesty and corruption in our society, the degraded state of politics and the character of its leaders, and how we as a society portray news as a form of entertainment for the public.

This film consisted of several references to heroes. In several occasions characters in the film made statements in reference to the concept of a hero. Stanley Moss made the statement "you can't have a war and not have a hero". Conrad Bream stated, "What is better than a triumphant war hero. Another character in this film made that statement "What is better than a triumphant war hero". Through all of these statements regarding heroes, the film is trying to stress that people need someone inspire and motivate them. A hero is someone who inspires us, someone who shows us the possibilities instead of the obstacles. A hero is someone who makes a difference. Everyone is entitled to their own heroes, ours are the people who have overcome obstacles and refused to accept limitations. In "Wag the Dog"; William Schumann was portrayed with this role of a hero. William Schumann, known as "good ol Shoe", is reportedly rescued from the Albanian Terrorist and flown home as a war hero. Shoe, inspires a since of courage and hope for our country. Kids start lobbing their old gym shoes over power lines, and throwing them onto the court during basketball games as a way to express their since of patriotism. Even though he was William Schumann wasn't really a hero, the public viewed him as one as a result of the deception and lies surrounding his story.

During the movie several key attempts were made to portray the idealism of American values. The first incident occurred when a theme song was produced for the war. The theme song focused on unity

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1725
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Movies