by Jennifer Blue

The American Public is gullible. The scam of Wag The Dog relies on America's quickening current of credulousness. Media-stunned, badgered, and over-saturated with data flung like dung from often contradictory, switcheroo'ing, and impetuous sources, Americans will chew on anything if you can capture and keep their eager-to-be-stimulated attention spans.

Televisions stutter from within the bowels of abodes; newspapers and magazines present trivia and profundity in panting succession; multitudes become pasty and bleary eye'd as they straddle their marathon Internet sessions. The angst'ish and sublime impact of television on the American psyche is mentioned more than once in Wag The Dog.

My own composition of thoughts and feelings about this film are underscored by background bantering between Mary Richards, Mr. Grant, and Murray. I am a second generation American born in 1962; the Mary Tyler Moore Show is a nostalgic point of reference for me. When I heard Mary's theme song at this peculiar and lonely time of night, a reliable comfort was elicited; I turned around to witness her joyously and self-consciously tossing her hat into the Minneapolis ether. Am I connecting or disconnecting? Am I sympathetic or am I insidiously losing myself?

The sympathy and poised-for-information posture of Americans is easy pickens for the manipulative force of the media who serves as sculptor in informing and forming our collective and individual definition. If the media is shifting the shape of the American masses, then who is marionette'ing the strings of the media? Who is the omnipresent They that people refer to when sharing Common Knowledge with others? This They, a Destiny, Inc. of flabbergastingly subtle imaging power, and their affect on an easily swayed American Public is the plot of Wag The Dog (screen-scripted by Hilary Henkin and David Mamet, a proven situational-power-play ace).

The incumbent President of the United States of America is in a public image dilemma. Mere days before the presidential election, a young girl, a member of a Girl Scout'ish troop of coltish Fireflies, is accusing the President of a sexually inappropriate moment. This type of information cannot necessarily be squelched, but it can be diverted. Maybe the story, true or not, cannot be swept under a rug, but perhaps another rug could be thrown over it. Connie Brean is an adroit diverter. Employed by the Presidential Platform, Brean serves as a silent but potent force of illusion whose enigmatically far-reaching influence on the American populace is hidden somewhere between the CIA and Kennedy's brain. In order to pull off the coup of the molestation charge, Brean contacts Hollywood Producer Stanley Moss; together they create a war escalating between the United States and Albania. The media and American Public ravage the appetizing farce which successfully deflects the molestation charge.

Robert DeNiro performs well as the stealthy, silent partner of the diversionary charade.

Dustin Hoffman is convincing as the Hollywood Producer writhing excitedly within a grandiose opportunity to make an impact on the public. For Stanley Moss, the Albanian War escapade percolates his creative passion, and in turn his lust blurs the reality of the oasis he has a hand in constructing. Furthermore, Stanley Moss, Hollywood Producer, will not recognize that he cannot receive recognition for his work, that credits do not roll at the end of what is deemed as reality. Conrad Brean, conversely, knows his position and remains seemingly benign in the background.

Anne Heche portrays Winifred Ames, devoted and efficient assistant to Connie Brean. Winifred is presented as impressionable within the scheme of the Albanian War effort; there is even something doting about her interaction with Connie Brean. Her own repellent feelings in regards to the media's role in reality arise suddenly toward the end of the film as if she has painted herself into a corner of uncontainable Truth. Denis Leary rebounds in a bit part as one of Stanley Moss' situation-creating entourage. He dons a fitted full-length coat dappled with cleverly placed buttons (I must have this coat!) while compulsively considering the fashionable merchandising details of the Albanian War (decorative armbands! implementation of his uncontrollable foot fetish within the spectrum of the script!). Willie Nelson's character is responsible for composing and recording a heartwrenching We Are The World'ish theme song which will further provoke sympathy for the great Albanian War diversion. Woody Harrelson is a macabre treat cameo'ing the role of psychopathic Albanian War hero William Schumann.

While considering the full-throng of posse'ing realities, I am fondly reminded of Don DeLillo's novel White Noise.

Whereas White Noise addresses a family's reaction to inundation of information, of their existence amidst realities that are not their own, and theorizes the motivation regarding why Americans are so eager to be fooled (nagging consciousness of mortality), Wag The Dog addresses the Source of Diversionary Folly, the Architect of Realities. Within the landscapes of White Noise, Mother and one of her daughters debate damaging sun rays and sunscreen solutions. The mother, Babette, arrives at a pivotal conclusion regarding the motivation of the topic she is arguing with her daughter. " 'It is all a corporate tie-in,' Babette said in summary. ' The sunscreen, the marketing, the fear, the disease. You can't have one without the other.' " Through the lens of Wag The Dog, we gain a view of the manipulator who is felt but not seen in White Noise.

Dim lighting permeates the ambiance of Wag The Dog, effectively conveying the mood of subterfuge. It is when the truly raw and demented nature of William Schumann is revealed that the film slinks into a zenith dimension. Brean and Moss randomly choose William Schumann to be their Albanian War hero from Pentagon data; his name alone inspires further marketing criteria in that a shoe song can be tied into the effort (and Denis Leary's character can finally requite his foot fetish). When Brean, Moss, and Winifred finally meet the war hero that they are to present to America, Schumann is unexpectedly psychotic, deranged, out of control. Schumann the man cannot meet the expectations of Schumann the public image character that has already been created. This revelation is exposed in brazen daylight.

Perhaps it is the populace of the United States that is the protagonist in this film. I find this protagonistic premise sumptuous because the easily duped American audience of the film is also the same audience watching the film. There was something gorgeous occurring amid the discomfort of seeing myself twofold; I squirmed self-consciously in my seat.

It is a schizoid inciting prospect for me to ascertain the full impact of Wag The Dog. If I entirely trust the story of the film, then I am guilty of the gullibility that is being exposed because I am believing what I see projected on a screen. However, this film also evokes a sense of nebulous disillusionment and dropkicking the consequential cynicism into the stratospheres of denial would be dangerous, hazardous to the health of the Self.

Wag the Dog - A Dog Rants

by Nathan David Black

Imagine that we live in a world where just about every major event reported by the media is an attempt to cover up what is really going on. This is the mind of Wag The Dog.

It is days before presidential election and a hellish situation arises for the incumbent President. Accused of molesting a Firefly girl, the President and his entourage are naturally afraid that the accusation will cost him the election once the media begins to exhibit the story to the American people.

Enter Conrad Brean (Robert DeNiro), the man who gives spin doctors their tops to play with. Brean concludes that a diversion is needed to turn the view of the American people toward something else, a different story, one that will make them forget about what the President has been accused of until after the election. The most dramatic diversion would be a war and Brean conjures a confrontation between the United States and Albania (a conveniently obscure country). He hops on a plane with Winifred Ames (Anne Heche), his assistant of sorts, to meet with Hollywood producer Stanley Moss (Dustin Hoffman). With little convincing, Stanley agrees to produce the War, basically for the production thrill of it.

Performances in this film are top notch in most areas. The dialogue snaps together better then Leggo's or Lincoln logs. Standout performances are DeNiro, Hoffman, and a cameo appearance by Woody Harrelson. Denis Leary and Willie Nelson were great as well, however they seemed to be playing themselves, thus there wasn't much of a performance stretch. The pace of the film had a smooth rhythm to it; it didn't drag too much in places nor did the flow go so fast that one got lost in the momentum of events.

On a whole Wag The Dog is both comical and disturbing. The darkness of the plot carries on throughout the film while the humor lasts just long enough to make the viewer comfortable and also sympathetic to the characters that are creating a war that isn't really happening. Periodically, though, one does become shocked back into the reality of the dangerous farce that is occurring.

On a broader level Wag The Dog can arouse one to a state of paranoid realization. For example, if one examines the overt issues in the State of California, one sees that the media is emphasizing tobacco and disgruntled gardeners on hunger strikes. While both of these issues are newsworthy, they are also overriding or maybe even smokescreening other important events.

When one looks peripherally at what is going on, there is a realization that the State of California is in the process of doing everything in its power to outlaw the medicinal use of Marijuana (an issue that the residents of California voted for). Also, those in power in the State of California passed or amended the state labor laws, opening the door of what could be a dangerous trend. As of 01 January 1998, hourly workers only receive overtime if they work more then 40 hours a week. Hourly workers can be scheduled to work as many hours as wanted on a daily basis with no overtime pay at all if they do not meet the 40 hour a week criteria. This hourly wage law just seemed to slip into existence. Marijuana and labor issues are just two examples of what is happening in one state, how many other overlooked events that potentially defy the nature of democracy are happening in other states and in our nation as a whole? Maybe the wall that the rules are written upon is covered with wet paint, the list of rights slowly and subtly disappearing from view.

It seems as though when one looks as far as possible to the left or to the right of an issue, they are closer to the center of what really happening. Wag The Dog inspires sight from different angles of perception.