Movie Substrate · Film

Network (1976)

★ 7.8 · 2,010 ratings on TMDB

Television will never be the same.

Network poster★ 7.8

When veteran anchorman Howard Beale is forced to retire his 25-year post because of his age, he announces to viewers that he will kill himself during his farewell broadcast. Network executives rethink their decision when his fanatical tirade results in a spike in ratings.

DirectorSidney Lumet
CastArthur Burghardt, Beatrice Straight, Bill Burrows, Faye Dunaway, John Carpenter, Ned Beatty
GenresDrama
The emergence reading

Network keeps every mind human — it fights its subject at zero distance. The story fights on E8/E10/E11 of the E0–E14 reality ladder, compressing media, power, consumerism, politics, ratings.

zero-distanceUSmediapowerconsumerismpoliticsratings
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Same rung, same subject

Films fighting at the same level of reality, about the same things.

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)E8/E11 · consumerism, mediaEpic Movie (2007)E8/E10 · consumerism, mediaAli G Indahouse (2002)E8/E10 · media, politicsFaces in the Crowd (2011)E8/E10 · media, politicsThe Ferpect Crime (2004)E8/E10 · consumerism, mediaThe Match (2025)E8/E10 · media, politics

Same subject, different rung

The same preoccupations examined at another scale — one mind versus a nation.

Don't Look Up (2021)E14 · rare rung · media, politicsCanadian Bacon (1995)E9/E12 · rare rung · media, politics

Same people

Shared director or cast.

12 Angry Men (1957)dir. Sidney LumetDog Day Afternoon (1975)dir. Sidney LumetMurder on the Orient Express (1974)dir. Sidney LumetThe Towering Inferno (1974)Faye DunawayThe Handmaid's Tale (1990)Faye DunawayThe Godfather (1972)Robert Duvall