Quiz Show (as “forgettable” as Marty)

March 11, 2009

Quiz Show (as “forgettable” as Marty)

I remember five-six years ago my uncle Harold told my aunt about this affair he had. It was a sort of mildly upsetting event in my family. .. The affair was over, something like eight years. So I remember asking him, why did you tell her? You got away with it. And I’ll never forget what he said. It was the getting away with it part that he couldn’t live with.

This is a wholly unfair quote to start off with.  It’s very manipulative, and I think it only tells half of the story.  And yet, there is a certain dramatic flair I can’t resist in it.  And so begins the thoughts and reflections on Quiz Show.

In the wake of my Oscars post, this seems an appropriate place to start.  The unwanted child of the 1994 Best Pictures, including the Goliaths of Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction, as well as now Goliath Shawshank Redemption.  And even the other nominee, Four Weddings and a Funeral, seems to have a certain cult fanbase.

One of things that strikes me bout this film is how drastically it changes depending on my mood.  I feel like this sentiment has been expressed by films before, so allow me to clarify.  Even when there are different vibes to a movie, I tend that the characters remain the same for me.  The protagonists and antagonist (as mucky as it can be from the start in a movie like V for Vendetta), the Norman Bates, the George Bailys…no matter how the rest of the movie may feel, the characters remain firm images.  Part of what makes those movies so powerful.  But in Quiz Show, we see Americana attacked.  We are forced to reflect upon our heroes, their private and public deeds.  This is about reality television.  It’s about owning your choices in life.  It’s about manipulation.  After three times of seeing it, I still don’t know if I like or dislike any of the characters.  And that’s what makes them so interesting to talk about!

I suppose this is minorly spoilerish, so if you intend to be a purist, skip it.  But if you read the back of the box, you’ll know that Quiz Show is all about scandal and cheating.  And one of the fun things is that the movie pretty much states from the get-go that cheating is ethincally wrong.  This may seem like a small non-issue.  But what is nice about it, is it allows the movie to jump immediately into the “why we do it anyway.”  From the producers to contestants, everyone has a different way of dealing with the pressure, trying to hold on to some form of their integrity, and so on.  And they do an incredible job, depicting and breaking these characters down on screen.

Much like Frost/Nixon did last year, I am continually amazed at how a movie such as this (as in, the premise being a historical event people are aware of how it is going to end) is able to keep such an incredible pace/on the edge of your seat excitement.

There is also something to be said for this as an era piece.  Aside from what as far as I can tell is a mess up with the Sputnik reference at the beginning (and really, they were only off by a year, I’ll cut them some slack) its a great period piece.  The collision of WASP and Jewish cultures, everyone getting glued to their televisions, the sets and costumes, etc.  To me, the mark of an excellent historical fiction is that is has an almost documentary feel.  Good Night and Good Luck did it.  The already mention Frost/Nixon accomplished that.  And that documentary feel is once again captured.

But the higher we let these heroes get built, the farther they have to fall once they fall.  And once they realize how far there is to fall, its fascinating to see what they will do to prevent the fall.  As they would say in The Wire, “The bigger the lie, the more they believe.”  Because I mean really, do we want our heroes to fall?  Do they become more powerful once they are humanized?  Or do we scoff at them for having fooled us for so long and not being the lofty image we projected?  Do we want to know if our sports stars are juicing?  Or do we want to know if our sports stars smoked a bong after winning 8 gold medals?  Do we want to know our favorite singer lip-synched their way through that song?  And if we read in the news that these things happen, do we pretend it didn’t happen?  That something got misunderstood, that the story is wrong?  We do and we don’t.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but I feel most of the sports loving world is against Barry Bonds but for Lance Armstrong.

And that is what I love about this movie.  If Barry Bonds (and yes, I don’t like him either) did take steroids, was he was still incredible with his hand-eye coordination.  And the fact that Lance Armstrong was competitive, period, is an astounding feat.  Would the contestants of 21 maybe have known the answers, if they hadn’t been tipped off?  And on the flip side, how unfortunate would it have to be to (***spoilerish***)feign ignorance at a question that is the equivalent of the first question they might ask in Who Wants to Be a Millionare…to name ancient kings and not name the previous year’s best movie.  Or maybe I’m just a movie snob so I would like to think most people would know what last year’s best picture was.   (***End of Spoilerish***) Yet we see the constant striving for having the ends justify the means.  And in a time when the sky/economy is falling, everyone must ask themselves to what end they will go.  Not just to get money, of course, it was more than that.  Van Doran had the money already…what he didn’t have was people listening to him as he wanted to improve education.  And the age old cliche’s arise, is any press good press?  And are charities in a position to refuse, for the lack of a better encompassing term, blood-money?

But alas, and probably rightfully so, Quiz Show wasn’t the best picture of 1994 as decided by the Academy.  Do yourself a favor, and give this one a shot when you have the chance.  It’s been under the radar for far too long.

Also, in case you are curious as to how things really went down, testimony-wise, for Charles Van Doren, this is a link to the actual testimony.  A bit lengthier as you might imagine, but revealing and worth reading if you were a fan of the movie.

Oh, and remember, someday, Charles Van Doren (Ralph Fiennes) did grow up to be Lord Voldemort.

Next week:  I ‘VE  watched the Watchmen, but don’t know its true face.

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