Screenshot from Bombshell.
By the ‘90s, the once all-male newsrooms of the national channels were increasingly open to women, but at Fox News, women had to open themselves to the attentions of their male supervisors. America’s most popular fake news outlet is the subject of Bombshell, a dramatization of Fox anchor Gretchen Carlson’s lawsuit against CEO Roger Ailes and the ensuing flood of denunciations against him by many of the channel’s other female employees, notably Megyn Kelly.
The story unfolds against the backdrop of the 2016 presidential primary, which elevated a hustler and reality TV face as the GOP’s nominee. Kelly (Charlize Theron) was infamously targeted at the time by that candidate’s vile mouth. In Bombshell, Ailes (John Lithgow) isn’t pleased by the candidate’s attacks on one of his gals but by then, the paranoid CEO had placed his bet on the race’s ultimate winner and didn’t want to offend him. Bombshell depicts Ailes as having a sharp grasp of his medium but authentically delusional, a conspiracy theorist who believes that the Obama White House was plotting his assassination.
He also believes that he did a great favor for the women he compelled onto his casting couch. “Give head to get ahead” is Fox’s unwritten pointer for women seeking to rise up the professional ladder. They also have to be runway gorgeous. “It’s a visual medium,” Ailes insists repeatedly. This means short skirts and open anchor desks showing lots of leg. Talent is not unimportant—Ailes hired smartly—but for women, appearance is crucial. Perhaps the Fox CEO understood that fundamentally, television lends itself easily to voyeurism.
Oscar-winning screenwriter Charles Randolph (The Big Short) and director Jay Roach (Trumbo) are clearly sympathetic to the women—both the real anchors and the fictional composite characters—but their portrayal of Ailes avoids caricature. He is shown as often being a good and supportive boss, and yet he actively promoted a highly sexualized environment with men on top. In Bombshell, the noxious Bill O’Reilly (Kevin Dorff) and lesser minions eagerly follow the example of their leader.
Ailes’ downfall is precipitated by the cleverly strategized lawsuit by Carlson (Nicole Kidman) who sought damages from the wealthy but more vulnerable CEO, not the financially infinite Fox broadcasting. She is abetted by the more cosmopolitan sons of owner Rupert Murdoch (Malcolm McDowell). Ailes sneers at them; they “suck cock” he tells his underlings. In the end, they get to turn the knife on a man they regard as an intemperate bumpkin.
The actors lose themselves in their roles, giving thoroughly convincing performances of women who finally had enough and a predatory boss who can’t understand what he’s done wrong. The social media lynch mob is depicted through hate mail directed against Carlson and Kelly. The only point missed by Bombshell is that the behavior at Fox wasn’t unique—just one egregious example of a widespread problem. As for the house that Ailes built, he’s gone but it remains America’s most popular echo chamber of lies.
Bombshell
Charlize Theron
Nicole Kidman
Directed by Jay Roach
Rated R
