I fell in on Saturday, it was already after midnight. American Dharma. A species Summer guests with Steve Bannon. Formerly president of the American right-wing conservative news site Breitbart and in 2017 chief strategist and senior counsellor from President Donald Trump. Until they got into a fight, after about eight months. Bannon is interviewed by Errol Morris, also not a little boy. As a director, he has a complete film ladder to his name, including the Oscar-winning documentary The fog of war. He is known for his penchant for unusual characters.
From Bannon he wants to know which films and TV shows have shaped him, where he got his ideas from, what makes him tick. And in no time you’ll be sucked into Bannon’s not-so-stupid, highly destructive mind, who talks about his “dharma,” which he explains as a “combination of duty and destiny.” There will be a revolution, he says, there must be a revolution, in America and then the rest of the world will follow. The worker will oppose the political class, the powerless will oppose the elite. And Bannon is forced to do everything he can to drive that inevitable upheaval. By via Breitbart by spreading slander, by allowing citizens to express their hatred freely, by inciting hatred against one presidential candidate in order to put another in the saddle. “It’s not a pillow fight. You need killers.” Interviewer Errol Morris does not hide that he thinks Bannon is a radical madman. But Steve Bannon fully accepts that he is not loved, even hated. When the conversation is over after an hour and forty-five minutes, the shed in which the men were sitting burns to the ground. Very cinematic, yes. But any hope of a happy ending has been dashed.
The American channel Fox News was Monday in the third and final part of The rise of the Murdoch dynasty a “political machine” masquerading as a news channel. Steve Bannon also briefly passes by in the BBC documentary about media mogul Rupert Murdoch. To say that his then friend and employer Trump “respects success” and therefore thinks highly of Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch gave Trump a ride to the White House with (especially) his television channel Fox News. “Fox gauges the temperature in the country, but also raises it.” In the United Kingdom they already knew what Murdoch’s involvement could lead to. There he is held (partly) responsible for the Brexit. “When the British media deteriorated, politics deteriorated.”
So I quickly went to look at the Dutch media landscape on Monday. With all talk shows from this week in the summer shadow, the monopoly lies with RTL4. Free game for Renze to give a good tug on the wheel for the elections of 22 November. How warm is the political climate here? Who will follow in the footsteps of the resigned party leaders? Why is JA21 so quiet and Thierry actually still alive?
You would expect that a somewhat awake campaign strategist would now seize the opportunity to make some new men who will bend the country to their will. Warm up a bit for later. Because whoever has media in his pocket takes power. See Bannon, see Murdoch.
But what happened? NOTHING. The talk show started with a conversation on the stool between Renze Kramer and ratings expert Tina Nijhuis, I would also dare if all competitors were on the beach. The regular faces talked about the war in Ukraine, about the new one Barbiefilm and about the craziest fragments from the RTL4 summer series B&B full of love. I’m totally fine with it, I’m not going to wake sleeping dogs.