Before the Fall

David Bateman’s position as head of a major news network gives Hawley the opportunity to explore and satirize the shifting media landscape in the United States and its role in promoting a cult of celebrity. ALC, on David’s directive, adheres to an opinion-based model of news, and Bill Cunningham is the ideal avatar for this model. While it’s a risky experiment at first, ALC’s success validates David’s instincts. The public, it seems, wants to be told what to think, especially if the message is delivered by one of their own, one who shares their anger and feelings of disenfranchisement. When Scott’s survival and epic swim becomes public, the media can’t get enough of the story, particularly because of Scott’s reclusiveness. The more he hides, the more vigorously they hound him. As a celebrity and a bona fide hero, Scott’s life no longer belongs to him but to anyone who wants a piece of it. Under the guise of the public’s right to know, the media’s desperate attempts for a sound bite, a video, or an image pushes them to extremes, parking their trucks outside his home, following him to Layla’s and then to Eleanor’s.