wires and lights in a box

what part does television play in your life? i use the word 'television' to describe the press in general.. how much of what we listen to, watch or read determines the extent of our knowledge? how often do we take an extra step to scratch beyond the surface, probe a little deeper than the skin?

a certain Senator Joe McCarthy and his witch-hunting policies in the early 50's took advantage of the paranoia sweeping the country during the Cold War. read this for more info. a few men in the press decided to do something about it. these men worked for the broadcasting house CBS when there were just three big networks, ABC, NBC and CBS.

the movie 'Good Night, and Good Luck' is a story about those pressmen, and how they worked to save the country from McCarthy. directed by and also starring George Clooney, this is a crisply-made movie, and definitely leaves you with a lot of things to ponder about. its a period-piece, and excellently done too, shot in black and white, with jazz music setting the mood of the film.

this film was not made for the masses, the population led in droves to the theaters like dull, witless sheep.. watch it if you want a thought-provoking film, that raises a few questions about the role of the press in our lives, and how much of it we can believe and how much is actually controlled by entities much larger than us, namely corporations. as the lead character in the film, Ed Murrow says, "it is up to us to make television an instrument of learning and wisdom, or else it's just wires and lights in a box".. wise words indeed, even much more so considering this statement was made in 1958!