MovieChat Forums > A Face in the Crowd (1957) Discussion > What's the moral of A Face in the Crowd?

What's the moral of A Face in the Crowd?

posted 15 years ago by Mr_McLaurel
39 replies | jump to latest

In honor of the recently deceased Budd Schulberg, I just finished watching A Face in the Crowd for the 2nd time. What an incredible movie. Unlike a lot of satires, the filmmakers of A Face in the Crowd aren't afraid to keep things complicated - Lonesome Rhodes may be an ornery cuss, but look at the money he raises for the woman and her 7 children who lost her house!

TV was very young when A Face in the Crowd came out, and TV plays a huge part of the plot. My question is this: Was Lonesome an evil megalomaniac from the beginning, or did TV corrupt him? The scene on the train when Lonesome says "I'll be glad to get away from this dump" is a bit of a shock because we don't really see that side of him until that point. Had the power and the money gone to his head, or was he seeing dollar signs and bright lights all along? I don't think the answer is clear - and that's one of the things that makes A Face in the Crowd such a fantastic movie.

What's the Spanish for drunken bum?

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] timothyhodge 15 years ago

[SPOILERS!]

I think that the moral of the film lies with Patricia Neal's character. She's the one with the real arc and the moral dilemma. She's the one we learn from.
It's her fascination with Lonesome that keeps her putting him in the spotlight. She loves him even though he abuses her (emotionally). Their relationship is a microcosm of the nation's love affair with him.

She has the most important "crisis decision" in the story when she wrestles with her own conscience and turns the microphone on. Then again when she turns her back on Lonesome.

We need to learn from her example not to be taken in by flashy personalities who just try and sell us a package. Too often the masses follow a charismatic personality without regard for what that person actually does.

When Lonesome started his TV career in Memphis, he used his power for good, helping that woman raise money to rebuild her house. After that, he was a hero and all he did was sing songs to sell products, and politicians. He's more like a secular version of a preacher.

Beware the wolf in sheep's clothing.

[–] Mr_McLaurel 15 years ago

Well put. Keith Olbermann has taken to referring to Glenn Beck as "Lonesome Rhodes" on his TV show - I'd say it's appropriate.

What's the Spanish for drunken bum?

[–] FlamRatamacues 15 years ago

That's like the pot calling the kettle black.

And that's not a defense of Beck at all. Both Olbermann and Beck make a few good points now and then, but they're both puppets for their respective networks, and I don't trust either of them.

If we've learned anything from "A Face in the Crowd," it's that strong personalities may DRAW our attention, but that doesn't mean they DESERVE our attention. This applies to all the talking heads in the mainstream media. Don't be a sheep!

[–] superhet 14 years ago

Flam, while Olbermann and Beck are both passionate, it's not appropriate to paint them as merely different varieties of the same cookware. Beck is far more prone to make stuff up and to indulge in weird conspiracy theories. He also makes prophecies based on, well, "trust me, I'm Glen Beck." Olbermann's offenses, on the other hand, are a matter of focus. Yes, like Beck, he chooses news stories and facts that serve his ideology. But he's a much clearer thinker than Beck and is much more careful than Beck to get his facts right. Sadly, neither man comes close to being a "balanced" journalist, but Olbermann isn't on a network that falsely claims to provide balance. Olbermann hasn't been caught making factual errors nearly as much as Beck has, either.

[–] nutsberryfarm 8 years ago

jail is a good place to find talent.

🎄Season's Greetings!🎄

[–] Mintie8632 12 years ago

Beware of McCarthyism redux and all demagogues.

[–] herzogvon 10 years ago

Beware Will Rogers and all demagogues. Lonesome uses his phony populism to feed his greed through manipulation. Wealth and power are the objects and, like all Fascists, he has nothing but contempt for those who believe in him. He would have gotten along famously with both Hitler and FDR, the latter of whom he spoke of admiringly.

[–] MoviemanCin 10 years ago

Olbermann is funny when he's on ESPN (He hit high! He hit it far! Boba Fett!), but when it comes to politics, he's a flaming liberal and a giant JERK! I'll take Glenn Beck over that slimy turd any day. Beck tells the truth. Olbermann is an habitual LIAR.

Schrodinger's cat walks into a bar, or doesn't.

[–] qofreason 15 years ago

I watched AFITC for the first time a couple months ago and I immediately thought of right-wing demagogues like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. As to the question of whether or not television and money corrupts Lonesome Rhodes, I am reminded of the saying, "Fortune does not change men; it unmasks them."

[–] PillowRock 15 years ago

Had the power and the money gone to his head, or was he seeing dollar signs and bright lights all along?

Note that the very first time that we see Rhodes he is already very explicitly a "What's in it for me?" person. He is mercenary and manipulative from the beginning. The character report from his first wife isn't any different from what he eventually is revealed to be, which suggests that his character hasn't changed much throughut his adult life.

The only thing that really ever changes about Lonesome is his idea of how much he can get away with. In that respect the fame and power can be said to have "gone to his head". However, it did not change him from a nice person into the manipulative, self centered SOB that is revealed to the general public at the end.

I honestly think that he would not have bothered to help that homeless family if he had not believed that it would elevate his own position.

[–] jtyroler 15 years ago

One of the morals of "A Face In The Crowd" is that you can't trust what you see on television - a moral that is lost on most people.

[–] Zuider_Zee 13 years ago

I agree and am reminded of the bit in "Quiz Show" when the puzzled producer said something along the lines of "This is television, people. We never told you we were going to tell you the truth".

[–] canada22 11 years ago

Right. But we can understand how people can be taken in. Nobody assumes they are being lied to unless there is proof. I am so glad I found this movie. Thanks to Netflix I can see it. Some movies entertain,others educate, and some do both. A Face in the Crowd does it all.

[–] chaotic_expression 15 years ago

What's the moral of A Face in the Crowd?

Never speak ill into an open mic.

[–] simonaond 15 years ago

I think the moral of A Face in the Crowd is that if you get the chance to be powerful, you should not use it for your own gain. If you do, there will naturally be bad consequences, but your own vision of them may be obscured by your focus on the power. The people that knew Lonesome, knew that he has changed for the worse, but he could not see this and so he started drowning in his own misery. The movie also shows how easy it is for us to trust a famous person based on their friendly personality that we see on TV, when in reality, they might be completely different. So it warns us to think twice before we start trusting a politician or a popular character in the media.
I think TV corrupted Lonesome, because you can see that in the beginning he really wanted to help people, like that old woman, and he just had this down-to-earth personality, but the world of the people that had the connections to the business society and to politics changed Lonesome for the worse.

[–] cutek90 15 years ago

I believe the moral of A Face in the Crowd is a lot like the one in Citizen Kane. Seemingly, Rhodes and Kane came from very different backgrounds. Both men had everything they could ask for, but they suffered from loveless and lonely lives. The films illustrates the shady and negative sides of the media and the effects of using fame to your advantage. Fame made both men ignorant and blind to the love that stood before them and ultimately destroyed their careers. I think that the moral is to not abuse the power and fame that you obtain and not believe absolutely everything that is in front of you.

[–] csk1023 15 years ago

I believe Lonesome was always a dark, malicious man who was waiting for a chance to take in some poor saps and he ended up taking in the whole country before he was taken down. In addition to that comment, his ex-wife made a comment about how he finally showed his face and the man who was in charge of the Vitajex advertising also made a comment about him showing his true colors. Rhodes was just waiting to take someone in and poor Marsha was that someone. She made him powerful and the monster inside him finally came out.

[–] nettwench 15 years ago

I'm with you on this one. He was just a small-time, sociopathic fool, until he became useful to others to further their own ends - it's amazing how complex the people and issues in this movie become. Remember that he would not have achieved the power that he did without Marcia's enabling him. Remember that when she disappeared for 24 hours that no one could "handle" him? He was partially her creation - she created this monster, and she also bears moral responsibility for giving him all that power. It's the charisma and charm of the sociopath - Rhodes is nothing but a big black sucking hole of manipulative narcissism - as someone noted one of the first things he says is "what's in it for me?" There was never going to be enough booze, women, or people to push around for someone like him. He went over the edge from force of nature to a psychotic mess.

This is the same culture that produced the "Mad Men" of Madison avenue. There are plenty of villains to go around in this story. A bumpkin, plucked from obscurity because he became a very useful means to an end for selling soap, snake oil, politicians. He uses, and he is used. There are very few who will step off the gravy train to actually ask who is this person? What is his history? Will this decision come back to bite us in the ass? Walter Matthau's character is one of the few who sees through him from the beginning. Other people also dislike him, and think he is a loose cannon, but as long as he's making money for them they look the other way. But it is Patricia Neil's character who has used him as a vehicle to fuel her career. She uses him until the balance of power shifts and it's the other way around, and she becomes caught in a tangled web of her emotions and her business interests.

The moral is "DO NOT EVER SUSPEND BELIEF." The common people that Rhodes despises, even though he is one of them, finally do wise up when his true colors come out. We are always willing to fall for someone that makes us feel good, has the answers to all our problems, or makes difficult decisions for us.
We cannot hand away our moral responsibility like sheep - in the end that always comes at a price. Rhodes has been compared to all kinds of people - Reagan, Glenn Beck. I would add Hitler as the most egregious example of people allowing an insane egotist to lead them down dark pathways.

Plucked from obscurity to become the new national darling - regardless of qualifications or capabilities - guaranteed to blow up in your face at some point - Sarah Palin, anyone? She really has the charm factor (for some) like Rhodes does, and is ignorant and a loose cannon to boot! And the Republican sex kitten thing.

And did anyone else see all the satirizing of repressed sexual energy in the frustrated masses (it's the 1950's!) as one of the tools Rhodes can manipulate so well? He is a sex symbol, too - every girl wants him, every guy wants to hang out with him and slap his back! It's part of the media culture - sex sells! There is a trainload of satire and social commentary in this movie.

Devil in a Blue Dress, waitin' for The Blue Train...

[–] lorene-lavora 15 years ago

I'll cast another vote for LR being a long standing narcissist. Sure he raised money for a poor black woman, but the satisfaction was in being able to wield that kind of power. Moreover, while he appears to be the lead character, I agree with the person who cites Marcia as being the one whose story we really follow. Rhodes is just the catalyst for the lessons to be learned. Even more so, the real star of the show is the American public. I completely agree that the moral of the story is beware the feel good hero. We continue to look to figures who will make it all better. This has been especially true about the elections of Reagan, Bush Jr. and Obama - lots of paternalistic promises. The moral of AFITC continues, it would seem, to fall on deaf ears.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] hodie 11 years ago

Don't you mean "Don't ever suspend DISBELIEF?"

I hate to say it, but the movie seems to say that the masses are gullible.

Get me a bromide! And put some gin in it!

[–] lindseyt-2 15 years ago

Well, as I have come to understand it, most people who acquire fame and fortune tend to let it go to their heads. Or they at least come a bit more eccentric than they were before. But, for the most part, who they eventually become is, in essence, who they really were all along. But with that money, fame and power came that ability to transcend past the fears of being that person and allow them to act on their baser instincts.

I believe that (height of power) Lonesome was every bit the villain he was portrayed as - from the very beginning. But his circumstances and situation required him to not really act on those impulses and play nice. I'm not saying that a little corruption didn't happen. As I said, that kind of fame and fortune tends to warp and distort a persons perception of right and wrong and who they listen to and what they act on.

Granted, he helped out that woman who lost her home. It could be viewed as a number of things. A heartfelt feat of kindness or an underhanded ploy to gain the trust and adoration of the public which would - in turn - feed his ego. Of course, it can be cited that it was really a feat of revenge towards the mattress company boss that they made a big mistake when they cut him.

[–] marktayloruk (2556) 2 years ago

Moral - think for yourself !