Network

To start, an economic joke that is so subtle I'm not sure it was intended. Nonetheless:

Classical economics sees the market as involving landlords - who get paid rent for the use of space; capitalists - who get paid in profits for the use of money;  and labor - paid in wages for effort. In television, this can be seen as the broadcast networks who own the airwaves; production companies who use money to produce content; and the workers who do the actual work. Laureen Hobbs,who is investing the Party's money to create a television show with the Great Ahmed Khan and transfer the content to the network, is the production company.

Which means, that "badass commie" has been twisted by television into becoming.... A capitalist. 

If you haven't been here before, please take a look at the Introduction to Generations, the Generational Attributes and the Four Stories in order to get up to speed on how all this works, and the terms being used.

 The film Network was released in 1976, and it ended up in competition for the Best Picture Academy Award against Rocky, All the President's Men, Taxi Driver, and Bound for Glory - all classic films of the New Hollywood era. And while it sometimes seems to be a drama, it's also very funny, in its bleak satirical way. Laureen Hobbs fighting with The Great Ahmed Khan over distribution rights. Newscaster Howard Beale suggesting that his planned on-air suicide should get a "50 share, easy". The head of the network using it to send a message, that message mostly being "will do anything for ratings." The radical steps taken to handle the resulting problems, and the classic last line.  It certainly reiterates that change is futile, that there are only perpetrators and victims.

While billed as the "Mad Prophet of the Airwaves," Howard Beale is obviously not a Baby Boomer. His marriage ended with his wife's death in 1970, and he says that he was married for thirty-three years, making him about 60 when the movie opens. Max Schumacher mentions being 26 when working with Edward R. Murrow in 1950, so he was born around 1924. Both of them are from the G.I. Generation, those with birthdates 1901-1924, old enough to have been adults during World War II. Max refers to Diana Christensen as being from a different generation, including once as being part of the "TV Generation." Her traits and apparent age suggest she is part of the Silent Generation (born 1925-1942). The actors themselves match these generations, although William Holden was actually only about two years younger than Peter Finch.

Screenwriter Paddy Chayevsky, whom we can assume is speaking through Howard Beale's prophecies of doom and danger, was born in 1923, making him G.I. Generation as well. With such predominance of G.I. influence, it's worth considering whether it fits better as Hero story, or an inversion of it. It can quickly be seen, however, that there is very limited teamwork among the characters. They are all pursuing their own inner-focused goals, based on abstract concepts such as truth, honor, and responsibility. Beale's fate is little changed by his actions, or by the virtues or vices of the Hero archetype. While a member of a Prophet generation would use his platform to tear down society in favor of something better, Beale's pronouncements lament the changes that are happening and suggests that it was the old days that were better. Mostly, though, he's really just going slowly mad, abetted by the large and then larger corrupt corporation that employs him.