A Face in the Crowd
The cult of personality is as an old and dangerous concept, but few films depict it with such chilling accuracy as Elia Kazan’s A Face in the Crowd, from 1957. A Face in the Crowd represents a powerful critique of the cult of personality and the ease with which people are duped by media representation.
A Face in the Crowd stars Andy Griffith as Larry Rhodes, a drifter with a guitar who gets his big break when reporter Marcia Jeffries pulls him from jail and puts him on the radio. His blend of folksy wisdom and foot-stomping songs become an instant hit with the American populace, launching first his own radio and then television show. But Rhodes is essentially sociopathic, manipulating people and indulging his vices with a sovereign contempt for the masses that have put him on a pedestal.
A Face in the Crowd is Andy Griffith before he became the down-home sheriff of Mayberry; he turns in a performance terrifying in its charisma and cruelty. Rhodes is almost fascistic, blithely using people and manipulating his audience to his own way of thinking. Even the inevitable downfall of the demagogue carries with it a sense that Rhodes will return, forgiven by the very people he so despises. It is a media commentary that still holds true, even as we’ve moved from radio and television to the power of the Internet.
Published: Apr 15, 2015 09:22 am