Talk Radio (1988)

Directed by: Oliver Stone | 105 minutes | drama | Actors: Eric Bogosian, Ellen Greene, Leslie Hope, John C. McGinley, Alec Baldwin, John Pankow, Michael Wincott, Linda Atkinson, Robert Trebor, Zach Grenier, Tony Frank

Is freedom of expression also a license to actually say everything? This field of tension is of all times and is also the basis on which ‘Talk Radio’ is founded. The 1988 film is a genuine Oliver Stone film, controversial with (or because of) a clear opinion of America at the time. The maker probably did not foresee that that opinion is still relevant thirty years later at the time of Trump.

‘Talk Radio’ tells the story of Barry Champlain, a radio host who mainly engages in discussions with dial-in listeners on his own late night show. Those conversations are more confrontations and Champlain is the opposite of a warm bath. The program is about to be broadcast nationally and that increases tensions within the radio station and with Barry himself. Those tensions are almost palpable and that is to the credit of Stone. The director of ‘JFK’ and ‘Platoon’, among others, creates an uncomfortable atmosphere. The camera is often literally close to Barry’s skin and that, in combination with the verbal diarrhea of ​​the main character, makes you feel uncomfortable as a viewer. It feels like a bomb is about to explode, but where and when is unclear.

The conversations Barry has are often anti-Semitic or otherwise needlessly hurtful. It doesn’t matter what the caller’s point of view is, Barry, like the Sven Kockelmann of his day, always has something to say. Because of this moral flexibility, the main character remains elusive. What does he really think and so WHO is he really? The same can be said about the message of the film. What does Stone really want to say? Is it that words have value and consequences? Or that words, however hurtful, may always be spoken? It seems mainly the latter. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. In addition, everyone has the right to have an opinion about an opinion. But that battle should only be fought in an arena of words, not deeds. The downside of that conclusion is that not everyone adheres to it. The scene in which Barry visits a local basketball game is also characteristic. There he physically feels the value of his words, much to his own surprise.

As mentioned, ‘Talk Radio’ is again relevant in the Trump era. If there is one thing that is clear, it is that words result in value and actions. For example, Trump’s words seem to be a license for all kinds of racists to take action. A scenario that Stone already sketched thirty years ago.