.
"Who cares if it is the truth, if it breaks, they are going to run with it." .
The media's power is frequently reinforced by the characters throughout the story. The commercial for the incumbent president appears at the beginning and throughout the entire movie, emphasizing the use of the media in promoting the president's image. At one point, Brean even explains that .
"The president is a product-he is sold through his commercials." .
The representation of the president is, therefore, not necessarily used to invoke or support the idea that politicians are dirty, but rather to poke fun at the American people for buying into the stories of the media rather than logically analyzing them and waiting for the truth to come out. .
The portrayal of the president in Wag the Dog reflects and reinforces the American public's fear of the stereotypical presidential "Conspirator". The public is well aware of the president's power over them, and they fear that that power may be misused to detriment their lives. The president of Wag the Dog reinforces the public's belief that the president and the politicians, in general, have the power to lie to them by manipulating the information that they receive. A clever reference to this power to manipulate information is made by Brean's character (DeNiro): .
"We're not declaring war on Albania. We're going to war. We haven't declared war since the Second World War!" Brean demonstrates the influence of word choice in delivering information to the public. His comment implies that the information the public receives can, and frequently is, skewed by the government. Even the major issue of war can be de-emphasized simply by skewing the wording of the information.
Wag the Dog portentously shake their cautionary tales. Their messages will hopefully prompt some thought-provoking audience discussion about the media's power to fabricate, or at the very least sway, American culture.