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Like plagiarising a comic strip..., 23 décembre 2005
I confess, I collect pithy lines from films for later use (though, striving to be a person of honour, I try to cite my source as well). Three lines stick in my mind from this film. The first, cited in the title, is from Charles Van Doren's father (played beautifully by veteran actor Paul Scofield), commenting on the prospect of people cheating on the Quiz Show. The second comes from a comment made with regard to Herb Stempel appearing on television: 'Now there's a face for radio.' The third is when Van Doren is contemplating the ethics of his situation, and remarks: 'I'm just trying to imagine what Kant would make of this.'
The movie 'Quiz Show' is based upon the true story of 21 and the scandals surrounding a fix in the questions and answers to facilitate ratings. The show 21 has only recently made it back to television.
21 was a highly rated NBC programme sponsored by Geritol (back in the days when usually one sponsor carried a show and became identified with it in the minds of the public). The producer, host, and other workers played with the audience by making sure that popular contestants returned, and unpopular ones lost, by rigging the questions. Herb Stempel (played by Tuturro) had a several-month run when it was decided that his popularity had reached a plateau, and a new face was needed. Entering the scene was Charles Van Doren (played by Ralph Fiennes), who in the excitement of fame and money succumbed to the temptation of being given the answers, too.
Eventually the government got involved in investigating a fraud (Rob Morrow as Dick Godwin, the investigator, is excellent) related to the show (big play was made about the absolute secrecy of the questions before hand) -- television was not quite in its infancy but was still in its childhood and the public perception was one of trust. When it was revealed that not only was 21 rigged, but that Van Doren had been part of this, the backlash was tremendous, but short-lived.
The production team including the host eventually made it back to television, and indeed Herb Stempel even made a television commercial recently as a parody of himself playing a contestant on a quiz show who had just been given the answer.
But for Van Doren, whose family was noted for academic achievement, the blow was long-lived, and he was never able to establish a career as an academic again. He did go on to author several books, including one of which I use in reading circles and teaching (The History of Knowledge).
What makes the story so remarkable is that most of the people participating were very intelligent. Stempel was a whiz kid at trivia and factual knowledge; Van Doren had a very broad education covering arts and humanities and the natural sciences. If anyone didn't need the help to win, it was these people.
Martin Scorsese has a cameo in which he gives the investigator the very real and somewhat painful truth--people ultimately don't care about the knowledge or education or even the honesty of the shows, they just tune in to watch the money. And in fact, that is what has happened with shows today--the recent insurance investigation of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, given claims that the questions are too easy and payouts too large, brings this movie back to mind as the 'anything for ratings' mentality still thrives.
A glimpse into a more innocent time that wasn't so innocent after all, this movie works on multiple layers. Now, as I'd like to be on a show myself, does anyone have that Millionaire telephone number?
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