alberta1 @ Dec 17 2003, 09:37 PM wrote:
Its at the end where R.J. Fletcher pulls the plug at the fund raiser and stops the clock i think it is. Its kind of pointless as the clock had already reached ten oclock
Ah, but you see R.J. wasn't just pulling the plug on the clock, it was symbolism. He was also pulling the plug on George's chances to buy the station, pulling the plug on George's dreams.
The plug represented the power of the underdog. U-62 wasn't just any TV station, it was also the alternative to the big corporate "network affiliate." It was the place where the little guys could have their own programs. It also offered the chance of opinions and ideas that may have differed from the network ideology.
By pulling the plug, R.J. was trying to silence the little guy, take away the outlet for other voices and ideas. When he exclaims, "This party's over, Mr. Newman!" he meant it both literally and figuratively. A party is a place where different kinds of people have fun and socialize. R.J. was pulling the plug on interaction, wanting only one voice to preach to everyone else. One idea. One opinion.
The fact that it was a clock being unplugged also has meaning. A clock may stop, but time still goes on. R.J. may have unplugged the outlet for the alternative and radical ideas, but the ideas would continue to appear. That's why it was so important for him to unplug the clock. He needed to squash the new ideas by hopefully cutting off their conduit (the plug) to the people (the party).
R.J. wasn't just unplugging a clock, he was unplugging everything that George, Bob, and the others had worked so hard for. That's why George is so visibly angered by it. R.J. had unplugged his work, the only meaningful work he had ever done.
But alas, R.J.'s actions were also his undoing. Right after he unplugged the clock, what did he do? He got up onto the stage (a platform) and started to preach his own ideals. Unfortunately for him, though, the crowd (the party) had already seen his underhanded ways, but since R.J. had no interest in what they thought of him (a new opinion), he continued to brag and taunt.
Meanwhile George had to come up with a new idea to still win, despite the bleakness of the situation. Had R.J. not been so busy preaching and boasting, trying to browbeat the unreceptive party, he would have easily seen George sneaking around and would have been able to stop him. In a way, his own desperation to cling to just his ideas was his own undoing.
Thankfully he didn't notice until it was already too late, which seems to have mirrored the success of U-62 before it even bothered R.J. The clock (the outlet) had been unplugged, but the new ideas still triumphed.
Oh wait, I'm sorry. Wrong movie. I was thinking of "Star Wars." R.J. unplugged the clock because he's evil.
