13 Movies That Depressingly Predicted The Future
9. Sensationalised News Media - Network
Sidney Lumet's 1976 masterpiece follows longtime news anchor Howard Beale (Peter Finch) who, in response to the news that he's about to be fired due to low ratings, goes on an angry on-air tirade which miraculously causes his ratings to spike.
The big-wigs decide to exploit Beale's ratings-grabbing rants for their own gain, leading to the darkly comical finale in which Beale is executed live on-air by a group of radical terrorists (who in fact have their own reality show) in order to once again save slumping ratings.
Network's eerie prediction of the sensationalist news media boom that has surged over the last two decades in particular is simply jaw-dropping. From Fox News fearmongering to TMZ clickbait and the vapidity of reality TV shows like Keeping Up with the Kardashians, Network saw it all coming.