Together these two guys create a fake war between the U.S. and Albania, with media mirrors and major manipulation assistance from virtual reality computer wizardry designed for TV news. Depending on your vantage point, Wag the Dog is either a funny satire, or enervating cynicism that contributes to the very problem it is skewering. Wag the Dog represents a long tradition of using Hollywood and creating images on behalf of making and breaking war, dating back to the Spanish American War. You'll remember the picture 50 years from now, they'll have forgotten the war. And the American people bought that war.
War is show business.
It's no wonder that close to 90 percent of the public think media owners exercise too much control over the press. Nor should anyone be surprised when large numbers of Americans report that they feel powerless in a system they perceive is locked up by a hegemonic troika of corporate moguls, corrupt politicians and wealthy media celebs formally known as journalists. Initially I was torn by Wag the Dog . I was taken aback by how subversive the film appeared to be. These days we don't get much political satire out of Hollywood.