From the point of view of evaluating the film, I can only say: the story is good, the actors are perfect, and the overall is average. In order to achieve the effect of criticizing the media and exposing the ugly, the director is too deliberate to express the contradictions. Sam's love for his family, his concern for the children in the museum, and his regret for accidentally hurting a colleague; Max's efforts to save his lost father; the ruthlessness of many media people, the fabrication of facts for the sake of fame and fortune; the obvious contrast between the three Write the subject directly to the screen. Plenty of contrasts, such as the homicidal maniacs observed by the commandos on the roof but telling stories to the children in front of the statues; the media newcomers who discarded the cameras to save lives and turned into the glossy Interviewer A, allowing the audience to Instantly understood the director's intention. However, as a commercial Hollywood movie, it is also understandable.
To be honest, I started from a small detail that this movie should not let me down. At 45 minutes, the black-hearted anchor Kevin heard the remarks that Sam should be forgiven in the car, and told the driver: This is all ridiculous, isn't it? The driver replied with an Italian accent and ambiguity: This is America and everyone is crazy. I always feel that the director has his intentions in this arrangement. Looking back on a lot of movies about American Dream that I have seen, people from all over the world, with different cultures, hold the same American dream, and struggle in the cultural melting pot of the United States. He believes that he enjoys freedom, equality, and human rights; he believes in the Protestant doctrine of "hard work leads to success and completes self-redemption" and works diligently; for his own rights, the rights of the weak, and the rights of people of color, he started his own slogan. But he has no idea that he is actually just a part of a relatively good operating mechanism. Back in the movie, it seems that except for the two movie stars, everyone knows what they are doing. The police surrounded the museum as soon as possible, took control of the scene, and told Sam that you couldn't escape completely; the FBI and the commandos thought of every possible way to save the hostages, and made every possible attempt, including shooting at the museum in the dark; First-hand information is waiting outside the door 24 hours a day, and immediately rushes to any interviewee who may provide valuable information; media companies always pay attention to the public's approval rate for the program ratings, and make any comments that are beneficial to themselves in order to defeat their competitors Clips and news; street performers hawkers beggars dutifully chasing after anyone who needs them to create their own interests••• everything is so well-organized, the machines are running so well, the parts are doing their jobs Realize your dreams without giving up any opportunities. Only our poor Sam and the conscientious Max were powerless in the face of the robotic beast. If that beautiful American Dream is so cruel and realistic, I would rather live in the small life of my humble commoner.
Okay, the hypocrisy time is over, let's start to reflect on the whole film. As a media person in control of the right to speak, facing hundreds of millions of viewers every day, you should always be aware of the responsibility on your shoulders, a responsibility to let the public hear and see the truth. It is a pity that few people can do it in the face of interests. Companies need development, reporters need breaking news, and anchors need popularity. The truth often becomes pale when it comes to fame and fortune. At the beginning of the hostage incident, Max also thought that he could turn himself over through this news. What might have been simple has turned into a tragedy, knowingly or not. Sam, a security guard facing unemployment, comes to the curator with a gun, doesn't want to hurt anyone, doesn't want to hijack to get money even if he needs it. All he wanted was a job, only that the curator would give him five minutes, and he just hoped that the words of a common man could be heard by others. Clearly he succeeded, and he got the chance to make the nation listen to him. Max's keen professional sense and desire to return to the headquarters made him seize this opportunity very well. Kidnapping with guns, using children as hostages, and shooting black people are all excellent social hot topics. He is smart and knows that although Sam is armed with a weapon, he is kind-hearted, which makes him feel like a duck to water in this news event. When the incident began, it was seen by the outside world as a vicious and horrific event, and the brave reporters were at the forefront of live broadcasts for the audience, but they were in danger. After learning about Sam's motivations and situation, Max came up with a way to get the best of both worlds. After comforting the robber and gaining the trust of the robber, he asked the police for a live interview. On the one hand, it can let the people of the whole country hear Sam's voice, so that he can win the support of the masses and public opinion, and on the other hand, it can increase his popularity. In the film, Max takes the machine and prepares to enter the museum before starting the interview. He looks at the colleagues behind him with a confident smile, as if everything is under his control. He even carefully asked Sam to release one more black child to prevent the media from making a racist fuss, and Sam's tearful monologue also turned the public opinion towards the poor father. It's a pity that the power of the media is far beyond Max's imagination. The major media began to intervene in reporting, and the small media did not have better channels to obtain news and began to fabricate facts, creating some friends of the robbers to say what the public might want to hear. Major social organization groups stand on their own positions to express their own voices, supporting Sam, protecting children, and emphasizing the rights and interests of black people. Then Sam's wife appeared. Uncontrollable emotions and words that were completely beyond Max's expectations made Sam emotionally agitated. Acting out of anger. Max's old enemy, the black-hearted anchor Kevin, intervened strongly and demanded an exclusive interview with Sam. After being rejected, he edited the previous interview video with no conscience, and played some of Max's "key" sentences to the national audience and successfully brought the public to the audience. Pulled to the opposite of Sam, but also put his opponent in a desperate situation. Max has also changed from a master of news and public opinion to a man who is being manipulated step by step. This series of wonderful ups and downs has always been accompanied by a statistic, that is, the public's approval rate for Sam. This number not only represents the attitude of the public, but also affects the behavior of the media and the police. The power of one person may be trivial, but when everyone's voice is directed in one direction by the media, it is powerful enough to trump any truth. At the climax of the film, Kevin, as a news planner or even a fabricator, condemned Max for planning news to mislead the public in front of the public. The director used such a satirical method to tell the audience that people who often grasp the truth cannot grasp the real truth. The right to speak.
The film chose to end just after the news event, Sam lost his life, and Max condemned loudly but was powerless to complain, which is also not meaningful. Let me imagine what the full event would be like as a crowd sees it. First, the terrorist took the child as a hostage, and then found that the robber had his own difficulties. Although his behavior was extreme, he was also a weak person, and his behavior could be forgiven. However, the news immediately confirmed that all this was operated by a reporter named Max, who misled the public for his own selfish desires. The robber simply released the hostage and chose to commit suicide. He must have chosen to end his life because he was too ashamed to face the anger of the people. These are the events that people in the movie go through, but what about the follow-up? Let me continue to speculate: in the follow-up investigation by the police, the curator, the children and the kind Max told the truth, and the behavior of Kevin and others was finally revealed. The media reported again: In fact, Sam is really the poor weakling. Max is only doing some media operations to help him. The truth is not what was broadcasted before. If things really turned out as I thought, as an ordinary citizen, would I be saddened by Sam's death? As a media person, would he yell to himself like Max: We killed him! ?
I still remember a shooting case that also happened in the United States a year ago. The headline "Two Chinese students were shot dead in a BMW in the United States" appeared on the US and domestic media as front-page headlines. Soon this news caused a lot of comments, and the content of the comments was more to say that these two people must be "rich second generation", and many people even said that they were more than innocent. Poor God! What kind of sadness and ruthlessness is this, the same Chinese people, the same fresh life, just because they died in a high-end BMW car, they are more than dead? However, the development of things was even more unexpected. It was confirmed that the two victims were actually ordinary international students. They bought a BMW car that was not high-end through their own efforts. Only then did their deaths receive sympathy and mourning from the domestic public. What a ridiculous and sad thing, but it really happened. The American media understands the focus of Chinese public opinion, and they know how to improve the value of news. Deliberately concealing some facts to guide the direction of public opinion, but completely disregarding the feelings of the victim's family. But what punishment did they receive in the end? Nothing at all! They get unprecedented ratings and attention. It has to be admitted that as a media, as a media for the benefit of the company, they are very successful.
Maybe the truth of the fact will go through twists and turns before it is discovered, maybe we will never get the truth, maybe what we see from the news, newspapers and other media will always be processed facts, maybe as an ordinary person, I will always Can't see, can't speak. But I believe that everyone has a kind heart.
At least I have,
I think I have,
I wish I had ••••••
But even if I did, so what, Sam's still dead.
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