In the movie "Wag the Dog", the President of the United States is involved in a sexual scandal with a Firefly, which is about the same as a Girl Scout. The worst part is that the girl decides to talk about two weeks before the elections. So, the presidential staff has to come up with a scheme to either cover it up or get the American people to ignore it.
The president's staff decides to make up a war with Albania. They even hire a movie producer to produce the war. He even goes as far as to come up with a song for the war and a war hero, however, the hero is not as heroic as he should be. He is supposed to be from Special Forces, but instead he is from special prisons. It is also staged that the hero is to be returned safely, however, this was not possible because the prisoner happened to be a rapist and decided to go for it again. Only this time he picked the wrong woman because her angry husband shoots and kills him. So, then they are forced to have an honorable funeral for this heroic man. After the funeral, the producer begins to feel deprived from the recognition he deserves and wants to talk. He then dies from a heart attack, when in all actuality he was "killed off" because he was too big of a threat.
So, basically this movie is about how the government covers up scandals in order to save themselves. In the movie everything ends up working out great, in fact, the president is even re-elected. .
This movie can really make a person question the government. It makes me wonder if the government may have too much power. I mean it is our tax dollars that pays for them to do these things behind our backs. They try to deny the allegations and when they are caught they try to say it was for the "good" of the people. I on the other hand do not see how hiding the fact that the president of the United States had an affair with a minor can be for the good of anyone, other than himself.
I do not feel that this movie is realistic because I do not see how we could "go to war" with a country without actually upsetting the country and its citizens.
