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Home > English > Advanced > Module C: Representation and Text > Elective 1: Conflicting Perspectives > Wag the Dog

Wag the Dog

This unit was prepared by Carmen Vallis. Sections of this unit draw upon previous learning support material written by David Searle, Grantham High School and Denise Freney, North Sydney Girls High School.

Introducing Conflicting Perspectives
Context and satire
Media manipulation
Language of Conflicting Perspectives
Viewing and representing
Building knowledge and skills

Introducing Conflicting Perspectives

Introduction to the elective

Representation and Text focuses on how meaning is represented in different texts - how medium, form, perspective and language shape meaning in texts. To understand the relationship between representation and meaning, you need to understand the processes that construct and colour the text in the choices the composers have made.

Then you need to explore the way a composer's meaning is conveyed through texts, and examine the effect different factors of the process have on the final meaning. In Conflicting Perspectives you are asked to look more specifically at the processes by which conflicting perspectives on events, personalities or situations are represented.

You are to study one prescribed text, plus a selection of additional texts of your own choosing that throw light on some of the issues raised in your exploration of Conflicting Perspectives. These additional texts should provide a variety of representations of the idea and be drawn from a variety of sources, in a range of audiences and media.

Representation

Remember that one of the primary aims of this module is an understanding of the relationship between representation and meaning – what is a text communicating and how does the composer construct the text in order to convey that meaning and draw a desired response? In studying how the perceptions of an event, situation or personality are established we can analyse what specific techniques have been used and question why.

In Australian society, often our primary source of information and entertainment comes from visual texts on television, film, Internet, print media, billboards and signs. We “read” visual language constantly without even noticing. As Conrad notes in Wag the Dog, an effective film producer is “like being a plumber.” Stanley agrees: “…do your job right and nobody should notice…” Stanley and his creative team rely on the public not noticing. In this module you analyse texts to take note of the way information, ideas, issues and values are communicated – to notice how texts are created and evaluate the different perspectives behind them.

Here are some general types of questions (not an exhaustive list) to consider when thinking about how texts such as Wag the Dog convey their meaning:

• How is a text shaped to draw our sympathies to the composer’s point of view? (Consider plot, character, humour and/or satire, specific filmic codes and language features)
• Are the structural conventions of a specific genre used? For example, in a narrative do we empathise with the journey of the hero and want what s/he wants? How are we influenced to view one character as a good guy and another to be a baddie?
• To what extent are design and technical elements, such as set, costume, light and sound, used to shape a response to a film text?
• How do layered visual cues work to reinforce the plot and the characterisation in a film? (Cues can be created by editing, camera angles and shots, a hand-held camera, contrast, juxtaposition, lighting and sound effects).
• How does the use of register, tone, emotive language, figurative language, jargon, allusions, quotations, facts and figures work in language to make meaning in a written text?
• What role does sound have? Increased tension? Melancholy?

Intertextuality

A composer can also target a specific audience by anticipating a contextually based response and shaping his/her text to exploit it. Casting actors in film texts often anticipates a certain audience response. For example, Robert de Niro, who plays the enigmatic and powerful Conrad, has a long career tradition of playing powerful gangsters in films such as The Godfather and Analyse This. Dustin Hoffman, who plays vain Hollywood producer Stanley, has a well-established “reputation for being difficult to work with”. (See Hoffman’s biography > on the Internet Movie Database IMDb) Knowing about the films and careers of these actors is not essential to appreciating Wag the Dog, but those who do make that connection bring another level of understanding and cause for amusement to their response.

Throughout Wag the Dog there are sly nods to popular culture and texts, although the director Barry Levinson did not compose the film to allude to a specific event or political party. For example, consider the theme song for the Albanian war. You can see a clip of the music USA For Africa – We Are The World on the internet. Can you see the similarities?

Activity:
Consider recent Australian and American election campaigns and television advertising. (Examples can be found by Internet searches.) What techniques are used from the above list? How are the political parties represented in the media? How has ‘spin’ been added?

Discussion:
Consider the election campaign of Wag the Dog. What does this add to the representation of different perspectives in the film? Find other examples in which Wag the Dog refers to other texts. Who (what audience) is Levinson targeting with this technique?

Context and satire

Satire

A common definition of satire is any text that ridicules human foolishness, weakness, vice, hypocrisy, pretension or evil. Satire seeks to expose and laugh at such aspects of human behaviour, customs or institutions. The satirist adopts an attitude of scornful amusement with the aim of promoting awareness, discomfort, annoyance or even anger in the responder. Sometimes the satirist seeks to prompt the responder to reconsider what can or should be changed.

The tools in the satirist’s kit include:

• parody
• exaggeration
• irony
• caricature
• inversion
• sarcasm
• lampooning
• scorn and contempt.

Satire uses humour – it is sometimes called ‘laughter with knives’ because laughter is used as a weapon to diminish or deride a subject by making it appear ridiculous.

Activity:
Brainstorm a list of satirical films or television shows and choose one to answer the following questions:

1. What is the subject of satire in the text?
2. What is the purpose of this satire? Do you agree or disagree with the text’s perspective?
3. How is the satire created? Is it effective? Why or why not?

Other satirical film texts include Bowling for Columbine, Thank You for Smoking and American Dreamz. ABC television programs The Chaser, Frontline, and The Hollowmen; films such as The Insider and The Truman Show also dramatise how media experts and filmmakers can manipulate reality.

The satire in Wag the Dog is aimed at an increasingly media-savvy audience who already suspect manipulation of public perception in the race to win an election. This audience is scornfully amused as the political machinations of an election campaign are unmasked through parody and caricature.

Activity:
Watch the following short satire of Howard just before the 2007 election: “John Clarke, Bryan Dawe and the politics of fear” on the internet. Imagine that you show this to an overseas visitor. Is contextual understanding required to appreciate the satire? Which satirical tools does it use?

Context

Satire is only successful when the responder knows the historical, social and cultural context of the values being satirised. For example, Stanley Kubrick’s brilliant cult film, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, was made in 1964 at the height of Cold War tensions between the USA and former Soviet Union. As an audience you would need to know about the politics of the Cold War and the doctrine of mutual assured destruction to fully appreciate the satirical humour in this film text.

The satire of Wag the Dog was sharpened by direct references to current stories such as the 1991 Gulf War. Conrad tells Stanley: “You watched the Gulf War. What do you see day after day? The one smart bomb falling down a chimney.” Conrad also refers to the U.S. invasion of Grenada in 1983 as an example of media distraction: “Change the story, change the lead. It’s not a new concept.” This technique, often used in docu-dramas, adds to the perception that the absurd, fictional construct of Wag the Dog closely resembles the real world.

Interestingly, much of the satire and humour in the fictional Wag the Dog can be found in Michael Moore’s 2004 documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 , which condemns the US government’s manipulation of the public and the second Iraq war, which began in 2003 . By a strange twist of fate, Wag the Dog was filmed and released just three weeks before the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal hit the news.

Discussion:

• Consider your own personal context. Since Wag the Dog was made in 1997, political events both in the US and Australia may have influenced how you respond to this text. Why/Why not?
• Are the scenarios in Wag the Dog plausible? Could it happen in Australia? Could a Prime Minister create a war to improve his image?
• Would the response of someone living in Albania or Iraq to this film differ? Why/Why not?

Activity:
Watch an episode of one of the Australian comedies below which also contain some satirical humour that could only make sense to an Australian audience. How important is the Australian context in these comedies? Could they be popular overseas? Why/Why not? Also, who or what is being satirised in these shows? Do they fit the definition of satire above?

• Kath and Kim
• Summer Heights High
• We can be Heroes

Media manipulation

Political and media manipulation is central to the theme of Wag the Dog. While the media serves a social function by presenting news, information and entertainment to the public, it also has the power to persuade. Wag the Dog shows that news stories are a construction of reality, not reality itself. Your study of this film and other texts entails evaluating media publications and practices and how they manipulate public perception and your own perspectives.

Reporting the news
A major news story is likely to appear in many different forms over its life; news reports in print and electronic media soon become editorials and opinion pieces, cartoons, letters to the editor, television documentaries, interviews, talk-back radio, and even material for stand-up comedians or satirical pieces. Some news events develop even further and are transformed into different modes such as a novel or a feature film. The medium in which the news is produced, its textual form, perspective, language techniques, audience and purpose all contribute to its final meaning.

There are many relevant issues which demonstrate the power of the media to manipulate public perception. The 2003 invasion of Iraq was based on the perception that Iraq was developing ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ and supporting terrorists. Such weapons were never found. The media coverage of the U.S. invasion of Iraq shows an array of conflicting perspectives and manipulation of public sentiment, fearful of terrorism after the 9/11 attack. Other pertinent questions about these conflicting perspectives include:

• Does the public care?
• Is the media willing and capable of digging beneath the spin doctoring to find the truth?
• How do individual items in newspapers, television etc represent the players in these political dramas?
• Whose perspective is represented? Whose perspective is omitted? Why?

Activity:
For a uniquely Australian example of conflicting perspectives on a news item, type “children+overboard+refugees” into a search engine and research. The ABC’s Media Watch analyses the role of the media in Australia and the world at large. Transcripts on the ABC Media Watch web site may make suitable related material.

Discussion:
Consider TV current affairs and/or news and discuss the following questions. (Also start watching such programs with these questions in mind.)

• Why do you think news programs attract huge audiences?
• How important are the media personalities?
• What kind of language is used? Is emotive language used?
• Do segments have catchy titles or slogans?
• Does music accompany any of the segments?
• How important are the accompanying visuals?
• Do the images & sound influence your opinion on the news presented?
• What responsibilities do you think these shows have to the public? Do you think they satisfy these requirements?

Selling the news

Wag the Dog connects the spin-doctoring and manipulation of the public strongly to America’s consumerist culture. When Stanley and his creative team switch to “Act II” of the Albanian wa, Schuman’s story of being trapped behind enemy lines is exploited “as a tie-in with merchandising” – cheeseburgers, sneakers and copyright of a slogan. Indeed, Stanley and co are totally disinterested in the politics or ethics of the situation; they don’t vote and complain about being “locked into Albania” as a concept. For Stanley and his people, the war is sold as any other product.

There are many, many instances in the film that illustrate how Stanley and his creative team are focussed on selling the fictitious war in Albania and the fabrication of Schumann as war hero, without any consideration of ethics or consequences, often to comic effect. Analyse how the composer’s attitude to media manipulation is represented in such scenes as:

• Stanley and his creative team watching the election campaign on television
• Production of theme song in the studio
• Winifred Ames, White House liaison, communicating with the President on the phone; discussing poll reports with Conrad in a limousine

Images convey ideas, values, and beliefs that can be used for political and commercial gain, but an aware viewer can learn to read the language of images and what’s behind the spin-doctoring.

Activity:

• The FRONTLINE program, "The Merchants of Cool", documents similar marketing tactics, techniques, and their cultural ramifications. Marketers, media executives and media critics explore the relationship between the media and today's teens. Visit and view segments at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/view/

• For an Australian perspective on advertising and its tricks of the trade, try The Gruen Transfer .

Language of Conflicting Perspectives

Wag the Dog as a text plays to a clever audience that will be amused by its fast-paced and witty dialogue, and its ironic, sometimes black humour. The title sets up the dramatic premise of the film:

“Why does a dog wag its tail? Because a dog is smarter than its tail. If the tail were smarter, the tail would wag the dog.”

Are the spin doctors Conrad, Winnie and Stanley ‘wagging the dog’ in this film? That would suggest that the spin doctors are the smart ones as they get away with creating and successfully selling a non-existent war and the bogus hero “Old Shoe”. If so, is the public a ‘dog’? What message is this film text conveying about political and media manipulation? Who is responsible? What’s your perspective on the tail wagging the dog?

While Wag the Dog deliberately exaggerates the extent to which public perception is manipulated, some would argue that the problem lies more with the audience’s apathy than the spin doctors themselves. Does the public prefer a slogan to a fact? Is there a level of tolerance and acceptance for the manipulation of the truth? What is your response? Is Wag the Dog as a film text a call to see beyond the media hype, or pure social comment?

Activity
Wag the dog presents us with a situation, evident in a range other texts as well, where the public is duped by the media. A key aspect at the situation in the film is the way in which the media is utilised by political leaders to ensure they retain power.

1. Does the film present conflicting perspectives with regard to this situation? The film generally shows a negative view of politicians to the media, but does it offer alternative perspectives showing this behaviour is justifiable?
2. As satire the film positions us to see the vice and corruption of politicians and the media, but in a humours context. Does this humourous context invite conflicting perspectives? For example, are we also being asked to marvel at the cleverness of the media in pulling off the deceit? Or at the other extreme, could a person reach the perspective that the situation is a tragic one, beyond humour? A useful activity would be to research different responses to the film (eg blogs, reviews) which reflect conflicting perspectives.

Discussion:
The best satire often deals with a current problem or issue in society. Do you think Wag the Dog offers any way of resolving these issues? Can you suggest any ways of getting the dog to wag its tail again? Is Wag the Dog as relevant today as it was in 1997? Why/Why not? Can you think of other print texts with a similar message?

Language of advertising

Wag the Dog begins with what is clearly a re-election campaign commercial – a representation of ordinary American public discussing their political choice with the truism and campaign slogan: “Never change horses in mid-stream.”

The language used in political sloganeering closely resembles film copywriting. Both try to elicit an emotional rather than intellectual response. Copywriters collaborate with the studios' marketing departments to produce copy or taglines, witty epigrams that accompany the film's title in posters and ads. In a competitive market, studios need a good line to catch the public’s eye and imagination, to market the film as a unique and entertaining product. The spin-doctors of Wag the Dog see the President as a product to be sold, an interesting challenge to their abilities.

Consider the slogans used to advertise the film at the official web site of Wag the Dog below. There is a delicious double irony in the producers of Wag the Dog using the same sort of taglines in its promotion that the film so effectively satirises.

“A Hollywood producer. A Washington spin-doctor. When they get together, they can make you believe anything.”
“A comedy about truth, justice and other special effects.”

Activity:
Watch an episode of ABC’s The Hollowmen , a biting satire of Australian politics. The offices of the Central Policy Unit are described as: “a special think tank personally set up by the Prime Minister to help him in the most important job of all – getting re-elected.” What parallels can you draw with Wag the Dog? Discuss the use of language in the ‘Hollowmen’s’ slogan: “Unafraid. Uncompromising. Unelected.”

Create your own slogans to persuade students to elect you as school captain.

Dialogue and characterisation

Much of the humour in Wag the Dog stems from the dialogue and its delivery, and by the actors’ performance of manipulative behaviour. Both major and minor characters are caricatures of stereotypes.

Conrad talks in quick sharp sentences – he’s clearly an authority in dealing with media and spin. His conversations are peppered with slogan-like statements such as “Change the story, change the lead”, uttered with absolute confidence. We learn nothing about Conrad’s personality or past – he is a man totally focussed on his mission.

Contrast the way Conrad speaks with Winnifred, Whitehouse aide, when she’s under stress. She quickly reverts to profanity and hysteria and shows that she’s not really in control of the situation, as well as her shallow self-interest. She’s quick to blame others: “This is all your fault you liberal commie convict hiring ****!”
For the most part though, Winnie is a willing assistant to Conrad on the project to get the president re-elected and goes along with manipulating the public without a second thought. She is often on the phone with the President who is also in on the act. She monitors the media and is pleased when there is “no mention of the Firefly girl”. Repeatedly, she checks whether they may be hiring illegal aliens, which she sees as a greater problem than deceiving the public.

Stanley Motts, Hollywood producer, also talks and thinks fast. His speech is often comical because he is obsessed with Hollywood producing and his own talents. Creating a fictitious war is a “Piece of cake, walk in the park”. “This is nothing”, he repeats. By the end of the film, the audience is in no doubt that Stanley has been in Hollywood for so long that he has lost touch with reality, when he describes his fabrication as “the greatest work I've ever done in my life - because it's so honest.”

Consider how we are positioned to respond to the characters of Winifred, Conrad and Stanley; not only through their dialogue, actions, and the actor’s physicalisation (voice, movement, attitude, etc), but also by specific technical codes such as camera angles, editing and sound.

Activity:
Consider also how the audience is positioned to perceive Stanley’s team: Johnny Dean the song maker, the Fad King and Liz Butsky; as well as the very funny portrait of Schumann. Explore how the writers, director and actors of Wag the Dog have collaborated to construct these characters – just as the fake war is itself constructed in the film.

Discussion:
Visit the web site of The Chaser which has satirical news items. How does it relate as a text to Wag the Dog?

Viewing and Representing

A film is more than a plot

Films reflect our society and values, or question them. Like all texts, films are constructed within a particular context and time. Films elicit responses – whether it is to laugh, cry, question or protest - and influence our thinking. They shape public opinion, create public debate and give rise to fashions and fads.

The success of a film such as Wag the Dog depends on its careful composition and movement of scenes and images, camera technique, lighting, sound, music and the acting; as well as its plot and dialogue. By following the eye of the camera you can identify narrative viewpoint, and analyse features such as pattern, repetition, mood, symbolism, and historical context. As in print texts, you, the audience, can “read” film scenes and consider how the film’s purpose and meaning are constructed.

Scene analysis

Wag the Dog is constructed to convey a sense of real urgency by the restless movement of the characters in and out of limousines and airplanes, interwoven with news items and campaign commercials. The director Levinson also uses some elements of a documentary style with freehand camera work and abrupt zooms on the main three characters (as in documentaries, often filmed with only one camera, which quickly shift focus when a different person speaks).

Levinson also reinforces his message that we get our news second-hand by visually distancing the audience from much of the action. We as audience are first introduced to Conrad Brean via the White House video surveillance cameras. We only see the shadow of Stanley playing tennis while trading verbal shots with Conrad about why he should help produce the “war is show business” pageant. Likewise, the team’s brainstorming of the bogus Albanian war is distorted through the reflection of Stanley's palatial Hollywood swimming pool. Also, we see the effects of their ‘pageant’ on the American public only via television news and programs. The audience is positioned to believe that our reality comes through a lens.

On the other hand, Wag the Dog uses the conventional Hollywood narrative structure of three acts:

Act I - “Setup”, where the main characters and conflict in the story are introduced.
Act II - “Development”, where there are complications and obstacles.
Act III – “Resolution”, where the conflict comes to a dramatic climax and there’s a sense of closure, problems resolved.

However, the classic Hollywood ending, which usually involves a “happy ever after” for the protagonists, is subverted by a smiling Conrad attending Stanley’s funeral and the news bite about a war in Albania.

Activity:
A scene-by-scene film analysis of Wag the Dog will help you understand how Levinson has represented his ideas about media manipulation and conflicting perspectives. Use the table below to analyse a scene from Wag the Dog. Add other film techniques if needed. Share and swap scene analysis with other students if you can.

Film feature	Why technique is used	Effect on audience
Mise-en-scène
Composition
Camera technique
Dialogue

Resources on filmmaking

You may need to brush up on your knowledge of filmmaking to evaluate why Wag the Dog works as a film text. Below is a small list of references that have been compiled by teachers for other HSC film texts (thanks to Lorraine Bowan, Glen Hooper and Peter York).

Books:

• Flicks Studying Film as Text. Dinah Partridge and Peter Hughes. Oxford University Press (1992 or 1998).
  Recommended for its explanation of film terminology and techniques.
• The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Movies, Flicks and Film. Mark Winokur and Bruce Holsinger. Alpha Books. Macmillan USA (2000).
  Explains film techniques and terminology in an easy to follow way, extensive glossary of film making terms.
• International Dictionary of Film and Filmmakers. edited by Nicholas Thomas, St James Press London (1990).

Web sites:

• Internet Movie Database for Wag the Dog lists the credits of the film, some interesting discussion posts
• http://www.internetcampus.com/frtv/frtv013.htm for film script terminology
• http://english.unitecnology.ac.nz/resources/resources/exp_lang/grammar_film_tv.html The "Grammar" of Film and Television, particularly good for info on camera techniques
• http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/gramtv.html another site on the “Grammar’ of television and film and its camera techniques

Activity:
Search for your own resources on filmmaking. Compile an annotated list and share it with classmates. Discuss and agree on a short list of best resources on film in relation to Wag the Dog.

To build your knowledge and skills complete the following activities:

1. (a) Select and trace a major news story that is likely to receive ongoing coverage across both print and electronic media. Collect and review at least three print and three electronic reports on this news item. Analyse the techniques used to present the news item in its various contexts and the impact that these techniques have had on the final meaning. Compare and contrast your chosen examples with Wag the Dog. Write between 600 –1000 words.
   
   (b) Present your findings as an oral presentation for Year 11 students aimed at explaining the techniques used by news media. How does this change the way you present your analysis?
   
   Outcomes 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12A
   
   
2. Choose and collect a range of texts that cover a significant political event that have had conflicting perspectives. Analyse the techniques used by the composers and explain how these techniques affect the meaning presented. Identify and explain how the different contexts of these news stories also shape meaning. Evaluate also how these texts are valued differently by diverse audiences.
   
   Present your information in the form of a critical essay for a publication such as ‘Spectrum’ in the Sydney Morning Herald or The Monthly . Write between 600 –1000 words.
   
   Possible topics include: Australian 2007 election; the Obama Clinton Democratic selection in the US; the Children Overboard scandal; mandatory detention of asylum seekers in Australia; the demise of the Australian Democrats.
   
   Outcomes: 1, 2A, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 12A
   
   
3. You are hired to get a celebrity elected who has no previous political experience and who would seem to be a highly inappropriate political candidate – until your texts change public perception. Use the knowledge and skills you have learnt in this unit to construct two television commercials with persuasive image and language along with slogans to persuade the public to vote for Mr/Ms Inappropriate. Compose the two commercials for different audiences. Work in teams to create and edit each others’ campaigns. Discuss which commercials are most effective and why.
   
   Outcomes: 3, 5, 7, 11, 12
   
   
4. Write a summary of how your understanding of the topic “Conflicting Perspectives” has developed over the course of the unit. Use the questions below to guide your response.
   • What were your views on how the media presents the news before you began the unit?
   • Have your views changed?
   • What role do you believe the media plays in shaping and representing public perception of politicians and political events?
   • How is image and language used to manipulate perception?
   • What role does film play in presenting conflicting perspectives?
   • Having completed the unit, what is your personal view of the responsibility of composers in their representations?
   • What is the most valuable thing that you have learnt during the course of the unit?
   Write between 400 – 600 words.
   
   Outcomes: 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13