Barry Levinson's Wag The Dog

I found Barry Levinson’s Wag the Dog the most memorable because of how accurately it reflects recent events in the United States. As the film’s conflict stems from sexual allegations made against the president, it mirrors the women that have accused President Trump of sexual harassment and assault. As the allegations are now garnering the attention of public media, I am curious to see if it will be handled similarly to the film; will tensions with foreign policy be escalated with events like the North Korea nuclear scare or the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital? Similar to the character Motss’ decision to create foreign unrest with the fake war in Albania, the public scrutiny surrounding Trump may be combated with foreign policy moves to dampen the consequences. As seen with the “Old Shoe”, the film’s satirical take on the blind …show more content…
These can all be seen in the goals and actions of Brean’s spin team, where they fake tensions with a B-2 bomber and a war with Albania. By targeting their nationalistic pride and influencing the American public to rally around the flag, Brean and his spin team are successfully able to secure the re-election of the president. As Fravel (2010) describes the diversionary hypothesis as an explanation for leaders to provoke conflict with foreign states, that is directly seen in Wag the Dog and is seen in President Trump’s actions as well. The accuracy to which the film’s themes present themselves in modern politics, 20 years after the film was released, is what amazes me and is also what makes them so interesting to me. In fact, these themes are more prevalent now with social media and how quickly information spreads; the President’s own Twitter account directly displays his attempts to disregard what he considers “fake news” to the public, without the need for a middleman like