#Network Ending Explained: Money Is God

Director Sidney Lumet and screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky both came up through television. Lumet, in “The Making of Network” Blu-ray featurette, says, “No, it’s not a satire. It’s sheer reportage.” Often times when talking about “Network,” people say Chayefsky saw the future. However, this screenplay was borne out of the news that a large multinational corporation was buying ABC, and Chayefsky put all his feelings about that, plus a million other things, on paper. He saw how money dominated everything in the moment. In terms of the extremity, he was ahead of the game, but the core of his fears were already in place. Money could get a lousy sitcom to stay on the air, a left wing anarchist group arguing about distribution costs in a contract negotiation, and end someone’s life.

With so much of “Network” becoming sadly true, the film is still told through a comedic lens. The monologues that go on for pages and pages in the screenplay are delightfully nutty. Dunaway’s Diana only being able to have an orgasm by frantically talking about ratings during sex is still boldly hilarious. Even the scene where they discuss Howard Beale’s murder sinks straight into gallows humor. The difference between its release and now is that you used to talk about “Network” while thinking about how crazy it is, and all you can do now is feel a pit in your stomach. It truly is “sheer reportage,” and you should be mad as hell about it.