In The Contender Shelly Runyon himself makes a major mistake by getting caught in a plan that the president devises in order to stop him from continuing his pursuit of ruining Lane Hanson�s career. In the end of the film he is publicly chastised for the slanderous acts the has been involved in. In the deal that he himself has made with the president, he forfeits all of his political power and will then return to public life as a normal citizen. The film doesn�t say what happens to Shelly Runyon after the credits role however, the attitudes that are presented, and the directing job suggests that to be returned back to public life as a normal citizen is like being cast out of paradise. For the character of Shelly Runyon this means that he looses all of the power that he abused in order to cause Senator Hanson such pain. Earlier in the film he is quoted in saying that the American people will believe him because he has a big microphone in front of him. Now that he has lost his political power he has also lost his voice, and with the power of the media he will have a difficult time making an honest living for reasons that his reputation will be destroyed.
One of the most pleasurable aspects of The American President comes from when the president wants to do some things that the everyday average person does. Everything from buying flowers, to driving a car, to going out on a date are all inhibited to the president by the separation of the classes and there power. This inhabitation is the ability to do anything is a repercussion of the wall the elitists build to keep the underclass workers from achieving the level of success that the elitists. This wall also serves as a buffer incase the elitist experience a falling from there social standing. Many people in the highest positions will help each other out in times of dire need. The purpose of this is simply to do a favor so that if they themselves need the help, they can be helped. In the case of the president in this film, he chooses to forget about his standing and go about a matter of business as a normal American. The people that he comes in contact with as a normal person (the flower shop worker) do not react well to the prescience of the president for the simple reason he does wield a great deal of the worlds power in his hands. In this case it is the power that he has given up for a short time that keeps him from doing an everyday activity.
�The criminal interrupts the monotony and security of bourgeois life. Thus he protects it form stagnation and brings forth that restless tension, that mobility of spirit without which the stimulus of competition would itself become blunted. He therefore gives new impulse to the productive forces...The criminal therefore appears as one of those natural �equilibrating forces� which establish a just balance and open up a whole perspective of �useful� occupations� (Marx)
Applying this theory to The Contender is easy for the fact that the investigation in the film leads to one of the most important aspects of the film. As mentioned before Senator Jack Hathaway breaks the law in paying an ex-military woman to driver her car off a bridge, and as a result she drowns. Mr. Hathaway is now guilty of negligent homicide. The heroic acts of Senator Hathaway are moving the blind forces into motion in making him the Great man. This has interrupted the norm of every day life, and has begun to reap it�s benefits. His support of him becoming vice president is growing, but the secret that he holds is the cause of many jobs. The FBI begins to investigate these transferred funds, and travel all over the country following the money. In the end it sank to the bottom of the lake in the form of a corps. The officials then step in and apprehend Senator Hathaway.
The examples that we can find in Wag the Dog are meant to be taken jokingly, while at the same time call to attention serious issues. First we have the example of the funds being raised to production costs through all the fund raising jars, and selling of war effort goods like shirts, and ribbons. The general public is told that these funds will go to helping save the innocent refugees involved in the war, when it rely goes in the pockets of all those people who are making the lie. Second we have the interaction of the CIA.
The CIA calls to attention the fact that all satellite photos show no nuclear capacity, and that there is no fighting going on in Algeria. Many hours and dollars are invested into the investigation of this �War�, only to find out that there is no threat to begin with. The restless tension that is caused in the American people is leading them to jump on the bandwagons to do anything and everything in order to show there support and efforts for the war. This is in many ways a proud moment for the American spirit formed by the illegal and criminal actions of only a few individuals.
Conclusion
It is in my belief that if we take a look at the movements in film that we can also see the movements in social life. By applying Marxist ideology to terms of film we can in essence take a look at our selves in the eyes of a camera. In the cases of political film we do not like what we see, why then don�t we raise as a society do bring change to these inequalities that we see presented before us? Because we view ourselves to be a part of something larger than an individual with emotions and needs that are not satisfied by our government. We are a part of �The American People�. We must conform and assimilate to become a part of that nonexistent ideal. And now we are the oppressed, settling for watching stories of people fighting the oppressors and winning in order to feel fulfilled ourselves. Perhaps one day the class of the viewer will raise to there challenge and make change to there society, and no longer say �it is only a movie�. Then perhaps major change will occur in social reproduction, and the viewing of films can be used as a tool to see another point of view than our own. Let the people write the ending to there story.
Work Cited
The American President. Dir. Rob Reiner. Pref. Michael Douglas, Annette Bening, Martin Sheen, Michael J. Fox, and Richard Dreyfuss. Warner, 1995.
Bottomore, Tom. Karl Marx. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1973.
The Contender. Dir. Rob Lurie. Pref. Gary Oldman, Joan Allen, Jeff Bridges, Christian Alater, and Sam Elliott. Dreamworks, 2000.
Greenberg, David F. Crime and Capitalism: Readings in Marxist Criminology. Hamilton Ave: Mayfield, 1981.
Schwartz, Douglas W. The Evolution of Political Systems: Sociopolitics in Small-Scale Sedentary Societies. 20th St: Cambridge, 1990.
Wag the Dog. Dir. Barry Levinson. Pref. Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Anne Heche, and Denis Leary. Warner, 1997.