“The Insider” (1999)

“The Insider” was, to me, a story about the ever-extended power and reign of the American dollar and the power of big business.  I am writing this blog with my mind still blown into a million little pieces by the revealing at the end of the film that it was a true story, and that it’s characters Dr. Wigand and Lowell Bergman actually displayed the heroism and strength that was featured in the film.

As the story of the film progressed, I tried to identify the actual point that Prof. Dunphy was making in assigning it’s viewing. At first it seemed it was about the power of the media, with 60 Minutes and Mr. Bergman protecting Dr. Wigand against death threats and a confidentiality agreement.

      Then, when the Mississippi litigation began and the Kentucky “gag order” was put into place, I thought (without realizing the movie was two and a half hours long) that lobbying by the tobacco companies had control, even over the very people we confide in the most for protection and honor, the Federal Government. Yet, Mr. Wigand dealt with a shady FBI who, as it seemed, had been influenced by Brown & Williamson, and also had been issued a restraining order by his home state of Kentucky to stop testifying. Then comes the deposition, and all seems well again, I could let out a breath of relief as Mississippi and the D.A had not faltered to the influence.

I finally saw the message in this film when it had been revealed to Bergman that CBS was pulling the interview because of pressure from corporate, pending a Westinghouse merger. When Mike Wallace and the rest of the CBS News team goes against Bergman, and the resulting phone call to Dr. Wigand was made, the realization came upon me that this was an extension of Prof. Dunphy’s most important lesson- the dangers and consequences of a severely conglomerated media in the United States. Even the most trusted news source in the nation, the same one my Uncle (who is a die hard NFL fan) will curse the TV out for when Sunday 4:00 games run late, had succumb to the pressure of losing money because of a giant media corporation. Bergman directly addresses this when he tells CBS News President that he knows he will profit directly from the merger with Westinghouse.

Bergman is the hero of this story, and while he couldn’t protect Dr. Wigand’s personal life, his financial interest, or his married life, in the end of the story he helps him gain peace of mind that the means justified the end. By defaming 60 Minutes in their hiding of the truth, Bergman eventually got the full story out in the New York Times, and in the process accomplished two very important things: he debunked the sources used to assassinate Dr. Wigand’s character, and got the Wigand interview aired on 60 Minutes- in their attempt to regain credibility. Bergman, a true man of integrity can’t even bare to continue his employment for CBS, or 60 Minutes because of the scandal, and tells his friend Mike Wallace goodbye.

This was an amazing movie in revealing the inner workings of the protection and strong-arm tactics of big business in the U.S. In the process, Dr. Wigand, who would be one of the first whistle blowers in a Fortune 500 company, goes from being a producer of poison to a cultivator of minds as a schoolteacher. Instead of using his amazing talents to destroy lives, he helps build them. Big tobacco companies lose $250 bil in the process, but the foundational elements (or faults) that allow big business to rule over media, and the government still exist: lobbying, and the condensing of U.S. media outlets. Until we fix one or both of these problems, in my opinion at least, integrity and righteousness will always succumb to the influences of the almighty dollar.