Diviser pour mieux régner: l'histoire de Roger Ailes

As more people see this great documentary, the rating will most certainly go up and be closer to the excellent critical reviews this doc has received. If you want to know the genisis for our currently polarized country, it all begins with one man - Roger Ailes. We went from simply disagreeing with each other on political matters to hating each other simply because we have a difference of opinion. This doc shows how Ailes basically created the landscape for the horrible condition of our current political discourse. The doc also shows how Ailes treated women like property he could use and abuse and discard at will. A must-see documentary if there ever was one.

Good historical coverage of the rise of Fox News and it's personalities. Reinforced the notion that one major difference between conservative & liberal ideologies is that personalities gravitate toward either, the innate self interest that there should be no limit on what one can accumulate for oneself (Trump perhaps) vs. those who have a sense of material personal sacrifice for the greater good. Side note: Over the years I've, quite by accident, observed a high correlation between skinny, attractive blonde females and conservative media as coincidentally this documentary also seemed to find.

Some of the negative reviews are purely out of fans of the network he created and that it wasn't a favorable view of either. But what should make it more broadly interesting to all but the most fringe fans of his work is that it goes to the history of the man behind the curtain and the start of the channel that changed cable news forever as well as the fall of the creator.

While partisanship is discussed what makes this worthwhile is the character study that goes beyond it. The focus is more about power, trust and a need for importance. What makes this a stellar documentary is that it doesn't get into the weeds about the politics more than necessary to show the person. While you shouldn't expect to like the character study, the man himself said 'I don't need any more enemies I have enough as it is.'

This was really well done. We all know the stories of how Ailes was taken down for harassment, but this doc shined a light on his notable (if somewhat horrific) contributions to media as we know it now. I was surprised to learn that his first cable channel eventually became MSNBC (which most likely pushed him to further extremism) and that he bought up a small town paper in his town for reasons that are slightly unclear here. I would have liked to have learned more about the other ex-wives (and the "assistant" who seems to fall off the radar once Ailes marries his third and final wife.... Liz stood by her man until the bitter end). I feel sorry for these strong shouty newswomen who continue to be used by Fox News but hopefully the climate of harassment has changed to allow them a safe workspace. I believe in their right to say it, but not how they say it. (also magical is the fact that "gender queer monster drag" actor Babette Bombshell portrayed Ailes in reenactments.)

If only this kind of behavior was behind us and finally relegated to history. His father did the damage and Roger took it out on Americans and especially women. This movie demonstrates how gullible a large part of our populace has become. How sad that men in power have led people to become so hateful towards others. Watching, I remembered how the women had to fight to be understood. The legal system did a lot to shield a lot of those evil men.