Documentary Review: “Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes” (2018) ★★★★

A child is a product of love and not marriage. Roger Ailes’ relationship with America, or rather with the elite establishment, was specific and so full of despise that he decided to bring a child to life to punish them. As the child grows older, it becomes more powerful, maintains and develops a horrifying bully personality, becomes more manipulative and uncontrollable. The child I am talking about is Fox News, a channel that no one in the right mind should ever watch. And if you did at some point, and were able to survive its propaganda, congrats to you; you can call yourself a survivor who did not fall into the formula of divide and conquer.

“Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes”, directed by Alexis Bloom, follows the rise and fall of Roger Ailes, the man who considered himself more important than America, owned the best kitchen on Earth where he could cook and spice up any food to feed its viewers on Fox News. When he realized what he can do by being a media adviser, he helped Nixon to get elected as the President of the United States. He gave enough air time to Donald Trump, who was already famous, and helped him to get the audience that could rally towards the voting machine to give voice to someone who is rather an entertainer. But all that was nothing in comparison to what he did behind closed doors, and this documentary reveals enough for you to think about.

Through interviews you see in the documentary, Roger Ailes mechanism of sexual advances towards women who wanted to work for Fox News has been revealed. “If you want to play with big guys, you will have to lay with big guys” Rogers Ailes says to a woman. And when she refused to end up with him a private area, she soon finds out that she’s in the “no hire” list. All of this, as you watch the movie, has been happening for decades. But there’s an interesting window which opened to show the people who Roger Ailes was, how he ended up creating Fox News or why he knew that the media is the most important tool that can be used in politics.

And of course, knowing the amount of information he could control in his own hands, Roger was able to pick the person who can someday become the President of the United States. So, if you wonder why and how Donald J. Trump is where he is right now, watch Alexis Bloom’s mind-blowing documentary piece to find out. Because, as Roger Ailes said once and rightly so, “If you have two guys on a stage and one guy says, ‘I have a solution to the Middle East problem,’ and the other guy falls in the orchestra pit, who do you think is going to be on the evening news?” He knew that people need drama on TV. They need outrage. They need blood and violence. Who cares about the man and woman who promise to bring peace when there’s someone out there who promises to keep the second amendment alive so that some folks can go out and shoot left, right, and center?

Overall, there is a lot to process throughout this wonderfully made film. But one thing is obvious, Ailes was right about saying, “If the audience loves you, they can forgive you about everything you have done wrong.” It seems Donald J. Trump is able to get away with everything outrageous he has done in the past, while all other men accused of the same have resigned. Because, Fox News’ friends have what all other men do not – a TV channel that is willing to dedicate its entire time to talk about how nice the bad person is, and how bad the rest the world is. Indeed, Roger Ailes has produced a child he should be proud of. The child that has mental issues and the platform to do whatever he wants. The platform that is capable of hiding all the dirt and bring on board only those who obey.

In the end, “Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes” is a documentary you should see right now. The eye-opening approach is tremendous and powerful. The time you will spend watching it won’t be so pleasant, but it gives you the most powerful weapon you can ever get – knowledge and education that no matter how high you fly it’s always safer to carry a parachute to avoid dropping dead. Because life is like utility, if you do good and meet certain requirements, it will never bill you. But if you abuse it, expect to get billed. And when it happens, it happens at a certain age and certain time when no power in the world can save us from the despair and shame we can find ourselves in.

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