So daring film for its time.

Talking about hard hitting issues such as society's desensitization to violence and the unavoidable role that media has played in it. Spectacle of the violence and the violent ones brings the views, the clicks, the attention, the money, but only if it's framed right. This surrealist masterpiece takes us out of that comfort zone from which we could consume violence safely, it shows us the glimpses of its true cost, that consequences of violence are secondary to the consumer, shows us that the lines between the reality and the media produced spectacles don't exist, and that the media universe has entirely blended in with its once object of reporting. The scene where the journalist starts killing himself is so full of symbolism; it should be absolutely clear that media aren't just a neutral observers and messengers, they create what we perceive as reality.

Watching this film I couldn't help but think about Jean Baudrillard's theory of hyperreal, of the real that's more real that reality itself, and of his essential "The Gulf war didn't take place". War propaganda and highly organised media hype gushing for war, especially in the USA, are topics that are unfortunately becoming increasingly more relevant today, and the mainstream media's role, the CNN, Fox, MSNBC, NYT, WP, of being almost more blood-thirsty than fricking Pentagon generals is the phenomenon which must not be overlooked.