MovieChat Forums > Network (1976) Discussion > LOOK AT ME...I'M REALLY SMART!!!

LOOK AT ME...I'M REALLY SMART!!!

posted 15 years ago by Rupert__Pupkin
163 replies | jump to latest

From what I can tell, when Paddy Chayefsky wrote Network, he was trying really hard to convince America that he was smart. Whenever anyone spoke in this movie, it was a long diatribe delivered at auctioneer speed and littered with 5-syllable esoteric words. I have a Ph.D. from an accredited university and consider myself to be well-read and fairly intelligent, but there were several times in the movie where I had to rewind because I misunderstood a word. When I put the subtitles on, I realized that the word used was one I had never seen nor heard before. This happened again and again.

I'm sure I'm going to get some comments from Network fans telling me that I must be an ignorant buffoon. Fine. But I'm reminded of the Einstein quote, "If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself." Well I'm a 42-year old, and I didn't understand a lot of the words used in Network. Putting them in context, I made guesses.

If I (a seemingly well-educated person) did not understand much of the dialogue, what are the chances that the average Joe off the street would understand it? If Chayefsky had an important message to convey, he should have voiced it in a way that people could better understand. I don't mean Chayefsky should have dumbed the script down so that it's on par with Daddy Daycare and Shrek 4, but the movie's dialogue shouldn't be so arcane that a college professor has to run to his dictionary every 10 minutes to look up a word.

[–] ebhaynz (3724) 4 years ago

I agree with the OP and it's funny I've only seen a few minutes of Network and my first thought was how the actors were using such big words in a movie and that they seemed to be reading from a poorly written script.

[–] DuesExBiological (99) 4 years ago

the script was rather tight if you ask me. I don't recall any "big words" either.

Paddy did a good job capturing corporate politics, so if you've never been in that environment I can see why you didn't appreciate the cadence or language used by characters like Max, Diane, Mr. Jensen or Mr. Hackett.

[–] Owlwise (1536) 4 years ago

Agree absolutely. The so-called "big words" & the script were written by a literate man for a literate audience; he took it for granted that viewers would understand. It was a reasonable assumption in those days. Most popular movies were quite well-written, so that a critically acclaimed film wasn't one automatically banished to the arthouse circuit. I wish we had more of that today.

[–] Kowalski (76875) 4 years ago

UNTIL YOU TURNED THE CAPS OFF....YOU DID LOOK PRETTY SMART.🙂

[–] modica (4169) 4 years ago

I had no trouble understanding the dialogue and I am not that smart.

[–] DuesExBiological (99) 4 years ago

What utter bullshit from you. Obviously you'll never read this reply but who the fuck are you to determine what an "average joe" can or cannot understand?

This movie's dialogue and script may not be understandable or even relatable to a millennial or Gen Z aged viewer but that's because this movie was before their time. Still, many younger people from that age group can watch the same movie and still understand the message and the characters just as well as you or I.

[–] modica (4169) 4 years ago

I reckon the OP would have been more comfortable with some hillbilly talkin'. In Murica we don't need that kind of fancy talk. People with smarts shouldn't be a breedin'.