We humans seem to have no memory. No memory in regards to being able to learn from past mistakes. As such we are doomed to repeat them. We have seen multiple examples of how propaganda is a tool for evil. Examples are strewn throughout history. Examples such as the Nazis, the Dairy industry, oil companies, and now Donald Trump. The American President might be an idiot, but he and the people around him, those propping him up, understand very well how important controlling the message is.
Fox News has been firmly on the side of Trump throughout his reign of idiocy. They have become his propaganda machine. The Loudest Voice is a Showtime mini-series which attempts to illuminate how the media can be controlled, used as a puppet to get whatever message you are peddling across.
Starring Oscar Award-winner Russell Crowe as Roger Ailes, the CEO and chairman of Fox News and Fox Television, Sienna Miller as his wife Beth, Simon McBurney as Rupert Murdoch, Naomi Watts as Gretchen Carlson, Josh Charles as Casey Close, Timothy Busfield as Neil Mullin, Seth MacFarlane as Brian Lewis, and Patch Darragh as Sean Harrity, the mini-series covers over seven episodes how Ailes became the man pretty much in charge in the Republican Party. He was eventually brought down by sexual harrassment charges and the ensuing scandal.
You know something is going to be worth your time when multiple Oscar nominee Brit Stephen Frears and Canadian Kari Skogland direct episodes of it. Here, the two combine to direct four of the seven episodes. It is high quality stuff. Not Fox quality.
No matter what your opinion is of the man, Roger Ailes was one of the more influential people of the past couple of decades. The series, though accused of being left leaning, does try to bring a complete picture of the man to us. How he was a loyal American, was a good businessman and how he loved his family. The bad side is allowed to bleed through as well. He was a serial abuser of women and was not great to many of his employees. He used the media as a weapon to tell the stories he wanted to.
A great character study that will keep you on the edge of your seat without any combat or fight scenes. I predict some Emmy nominations for those involved.
