Network (1976): How a 50-Year-Old Film Predicted Today's Media Madness

The more films I watch the more I realize how much the 60s and 70s rhyme with the 2020s.

I had only a vague awareness of Network before watching it mostly from mentions in director interviews and its inclusion in various film mashups and supercuts I saw growing up. The Howard Beale “You gotta get mad!” line, in particular, was familiar.

To say Network feels prophetic is almost an understatement as it approaches its 50th anniversary.

In 2000, Roger Ebert wrote that the film was "like prophecy," asking, “When Chayefsky created Howard Beale, could he have imagined Jerry Springer, Howard Stern, and the World Wrestling Federation?” Watching it today, it’s hard not to extend that question even further to the state of modern media.

This is one of the great examples of why cinephiles need to watch older films as so many, including myself rarely venture past the 1980s. It’s easy to get so caught up in the present that we assume our struggles are unique that we’re the first to experience this level of cynicism, angst, and disillusionment. But Network, made in 1976, lays it all out: concerns about corporatism, communism, the state of democracy, media expansion, and a despondent nation grappling with it all. Nearly half a century later, we’re still having the same conversations.

The film’s central satire, that news and information are no longer enough, that media must tap into Americans’ rage feels eerily prescient. At one point, I found myself thinking, “Wow, this woman is inventing the premise for Fox News.” But at this point, that kind of sensationalized, rage-driven news isn’t an outlier, it’s the norm.

As a film, Network is fascinating. The performances are top-notch across the board. If I had one real criticism, it would be that the perspective shifts a little too much. Every character is interesting, but the film juggles so many threads that some don’t get enough time to fully develop, particularly the Ecumenical Liberation Army storyline.

Otherwise, the writing is brilliant, more than deserving of the accolades it received. Watching Network today isn’t just an appreciation of classic cinema it’s a reminder of how much (and how little) has changed.