Do you remember the Morton Downey Jr. Show? It got hugely popular in the late eighties. In many respects, it was the first of the obnoxious political shows that have come to almost dominate American politics today.
The story of the meteoric rise of the show, which itself was quickly followed by a stunningly fast and complete collapse.
Sometimes, it seems to me that we live in a very loud society. It has long been loud, but it seems to have gotten so loud these days, that the very voice of sanity often seems to have been drowned out.
The controversial show debuted on October 19, 1987. It was taken off the air permanently less than two years later. Yet in between that, Downey became a legend.
He certainly did not appear like the son of a big star. In fact, physically, he had a look of a working class stiff. His face and words often seemed to be that of an impatient football coach cutting down his players, and he had a demeanor to match. Indeed, he seemed like a guy who might be “cutting through the bullshit,” so to speak.
Almost as soon as Downey’s show was taken off the air, there were others to take his place. Plenty of others. It began with Rush Limbaugh. But in short order, there were even more. Many, many more. Indeed, right at the very end of this movie, we hear a question being asked by former NBC Today Show Anchor Bryant Gumbel, who asked if this was just a passing fancy or the front of a wave. It seems clear enough that, in fact, this show was the head of not just a wave, but a tidal wave tat has swept across the country, and left the destruction of a civilized country in it’s wake. More and more, not just dialogue, but simple respect and even tolerance for other points of view are being thrown aside, and seem like a relic of a bygone era.
Yet, watching this movie, it is hard not to get the impression that there was more to Morton Downey, Jr. than met the eye. Despite being the champion of the blue collar, working class kind of guy, he was in fact the son of a very famous star. And while he may have appeared very passionate - to a fault - with his own stated political opinions, you really get the impression watching this movie that, in fact, Downey was playing a role, and doing it very convincingly. In fact, it appears that ratings were his actual religion, and he remained devout to this faith throughout, willing to go to ever greater extremes in order to win better ratings. Ultimately, the evidence suggests that he tried pulling off an enormous stunt which, in fact, backfired and ended his career, even though his show and his brand were already well in decline by that point.
Still, it seems clear that The Morton Downey, Jr. Show raised many eyebrows, and not just because of the circus-like atmosphere. No, many people noticed how successful his ratings were, however briefly he managed to achieve them. If he had not been so self-destructive to his own best interests, one wonders if he might not have stuck around a lot longer on the scene, and become an iconic voice for political right-wingers everywhere. Instead, he was soon replaced by what sure appeared to be a whole bunch of imitators.
After watching this movie, one has to wonder just how much of their own bull crap these conservative commentators believe in. It seems clear that Morton Downey Jr. himself was actually not a big believer in conservatism, nor was he anywhere near as militant in his own views as he may have appeared to be when he was in front of the cameras. And his backstory as revealed in this movie only reinforces this notion. That should serve as an important reminder that other conservative commentators have admitted the same thing. Bill O’Reilly basically admitted as much to Stephen Colbert. That is not to say that, in fact, they are particularly liberal, or that they do not hold many, if not all, of their conservative viewpoints. But their shows are not so much news or even political discussion shows, as they are a form of entertainment which serves as propaganda. The fact that they have been enormously successful speaks to the dumbing down of the American political mindset in recent decades.
No wonder, then, that this dumbing down and decline in class and mutual respect has reared it’s ugly face in our actual national politics. Frankly, it would be surprising if things do not get a whole lot worse before they get any better.
Indeed, Morton Downey Jr. made history with his show. For a little while there, he was every bit as big as he had always hoped to be, always dreamed of being. The question, then, is what kind of legacy he left behind. Frankly, the fact that not only liberals, but even conservatives seemed to want to distance themselves from him is telling. I can remember Rush Limbaugh more than once angrily declaring that he was not just another Morton Downey, Jr., even though it is hard to really see the difference in how they conducted themselves on the show.
There are differences, and the main one that I notice right away is that Limbaugh never seemed to put his audience front and center, the way that Downey did. However, they both seemed to be completely taken with themselves and their opinions, and they also both seemed intolerant to any viewpoints that differed from their own. Many were disgusted with Limbaugh, and he lost a number of sponsors for certain actions and sentiments that he took over the years. Yet, the fact that Limbaugh was explicitly angry and quickly tried to dismiss comparisons with Downey before any serious discussion on the matter could be had sure seems to be telling.
In any case, this was a really informative and entertaining movie. It is a documentary, but the narration mostly comes from the voice of those who knew him and share stories. I was surprised by his personal background, having been unfamiliar with it beforehand. Also, it clearly shows something that was brand new at the time, but which has since kid of become a tired cliche. These days, obnoxious, loudmouth conservative commentators shouting over people they disagree with and throwing them off their show seem to be a dime a dozen. From the now departed Rush Limbaugh to Bill O'Reilly to Dennis Miller to Michael Savage to Ann Coulter to Laura Ingram to Sean Hannity to Alex Jones, and on and on and on, they have become so commonplace that it feels like you sometimes cannot get a break from them. And they seem sometimes to be competing to try and outdo one another with obnoxious comments and sentiments, trying to grab headlines and, of course along with that, better ratings.
Perhaps that is the legacy that Morton Downey, Jr. really left us.
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