Machiavellian Thinking And The Movie Wag The Dog

The source of Niccolò Machiavelli’s enduring reputation, was his ability to identify the timeless frailties of the human condition and distil these into a set of practical maxims. Machiavellianism, at its core, blatantly rejects traditional morality because “the end justifies the means”, and instead, advocates the illusionary appearance of rectitude. Five centuries later, director Barry Levinson redelivers contentious Machiavellian thinking through the modern satirical film, Wag the Dog, which due to its contemporary form, resonates with an even wider audience.

Wag the Dog follows the protagonist Conrad Brean, an infamous political spin-doctor. He employs unprincipled, yet disguised, manoeuvres in attempts to restore the image of the scandalous President on the eve of an election. Such Machiavellian principles are represented in this image. Pinocchio, the most classical association with dishonesty, is visually placed alongside the White House, the archetypal symbol of political power. This is a blatantly powerful message in itself. However, even further, the concealment of Pinocchio below the surface level implies that such deceitful practices are unbeknownst to the public, due to the construction of moral facades.

Wag the Dog takes the form of a black comedy. It uses humour and satire to reel in a wider audience, whilst offering an underlying social commentary about the duplicity of those in power. The satirical genre allows for an ironic undertone throughout the film, as a provocative trope of contradictory private and public behaviour is sustained through distinctive cinematography. A ruthless characterisation of Brean commences from the opening scene, in which the audience is introduced to the silhouette of a faceless man through a low-angle power-establishing shot, coupled with heavy shadows from the lack of lighting. These features highlight the underhand dealings involved with Brean’s actions, and effectively foreshadow the disconnect between his private and public face.

Motifs of traditional American values of freedom and integrity are symbolised by panning shots of the theatrically lit White House, colour schemes similar to those on the national flag, and diegetic patriotic music. Meanwhile, the bunker interior in which Brean is routinely positioned for scheming creates striking tension with these patriotic ideals, as the director’s portrayal of such a setting is cold, ill-lit and dubious. Together, this contrast alludes to the film’s underlying Machiavellian proposition that the public is “often more influenced by the things that seem than by those that are”.Brean also instinctively adopts a casual tone when scheming – he utters, “I don’t care if it’s true” and “just gotta distract them”. When questioned about why he wanted to victimise Albania in his campaign, he reasons, “well, what did they ever do for us?”. Hence, director Levinson establishes Brean as a character who is indifferent towards conventional morality through his innate willingness to act in whatever way necessary to achieve his goals.

In contrast though, when the President presents the ghost-written speech by Brean, he displays poetic rhetoric and pathos as an appeal to the public’s family values and American patriotism. The stark juxtaposition between the nonchalant language Brean uses when plotting in private with the well-considered, emotional rhetoric he scribes in the President’s speech echoes Machiavelli’s honoured principle: “rulers need not necessarily have all the good qualities, as the great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearance.”Also, the contemporary nature of the film allows for the inclusion and manipulation of technologically advanced tools as a means for protagonist Brean to achieve his successful results. Forged realities are produced through Brean’s manipulation of staged footage from a non-existent war in Albania and various news flashes of the President caring for a young Albanian girl and grandmother. Brean goes to the unscrupulous extent of fabricating events, to present the President as a noble and honourable leader. Thus, demonstrating his understanding of Machiavelli’s counsel: “it is necessary for a ruler to know how to do wrong when he must.”

Here, Pinocchio is buried beneath the ground. The construction of this artwork implies that his emblematic characteristics of deception can be seen as the grounding features, or the foundations upon which political systems are built. But, this is far more than just a symbolically cautionary piece of artwork.

In fact, Machiavelli advocates the importance of such pragmatic underpinnings beneath every political act, and these Renaissance sentiments are almost identically deployed in the contemporary film Wag the Dog. Not only do we see this play out in modern show business, but also in today’s society: Richard Nixon, Vladimir Putin, Chris Christie … the contemporary political personifications of Machiavellian thinking are endless. Evidently, each age, each reader, fashions in some degree its own manifestations of Machiavellian thinking. However, despite major sociological paradigms, the principle Machiavellian philosophies have proven capable of transcending both cultural and historical boundaries. For that reason, Machiavellian thinking indeed has legs.