Best PR movies, shows and novels
August 3rd, 2007 by Todd
So there’s general agreement on the “holy trinity” of sales movies (Glengarry Glen Ross, Wall Street and Boiler Room), and this short list has been expanded by many to include Tommy Boy and others. But what about the great PR movies? And why not extend it to shows and books as well?
What I’ve been able to compile so far (thanks Topazers) is depressingly short!! Help me compile my must view / must read list for PR! (Comment moderation is, God help us, off for a while.) Once we have a few more suggestions we’ll throw this up on a wiki.
The movies, books and shows don’t have to be about PR, but they should be very relevant to PR (e.g., they can be about the TV industry, newspapers, Internet, etc.)
The novels I’m looking for don’t have to be fiction but they can’t be how-to or reference books. Plenty of those and they’re easy to find.
MOVIES
- Ace In The Hole
- Broadcast News
- Network
- Sweet Smell of Success
- Sliding Doors
- Thank You For Smoking
- Wag The Dog
SHOWS/EPISODES
- Absolute Power
- Absolutely Fabulous
- Bob Newhart Show: “Who Is Mr. X?” (Season 4)
- PoweR Girls
NOVELS
- All the President’s Men
- Everyone Worth Knowing
- From the Folks Who Brought You Pearl Harbor (more advertising, but still good)
What am I missing?
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August 3rd, 2007 at 12:55 pm
I believe Ace in the Hole just got a new DVD release– great Billy Wilder film
August 3rd, 2007 at 3:11 pm
Bridget Jones worked as a publicist for a publishing house in the book and movie…
Do you ever notice that the women in PR on TV/movies and even in books (”Everyone Worth Knowing”) only seem to do party planning? Samantha on “Sex and the City,” Gwyneth’s character in Sliding Doors, the “PoweR Girls”….they all just seem to do fluffy parties. Not that launches and events aren’t important, but these women don’t seem to do substantive work. And Patsy from AbFab, much as I love her, was hardly a good example for aspiring publicists.
The only high-powered, effective female flack I can think of (aside from political–because no one tops CJ Cregg) was the movie star publicist on “Entourage,” Debi Mazar’s character. But we rarely saw her (sadly) and she was eventually written out of the show.
August 3rd, 2007 at 9:14 pm
As a PR guy who doubles as an innkeeper, a favorite of mine is “Don’t Stop the Carnival”. It started as a novel by World War II novelist Herman Wouk, who later teamed up with Jimmy Buffett to put the story to music (unfortunately, the musical version folded after just a few months in Miami). The story follows the experiences of Norman Paperman, who chucks a PR job in NYC to take over a hotel in the Caribean with hilarous results. One of Buffet’s songs is (surprise) “Public Relations” in which Norman tells us “boozing and schmoozing, that’s what I do”. It’s not Buffet’s best, but PR folks should enjoy it. The book is an fun, easy read. As for my own innkeeping experiences, check out the Blue Shutters Beachside Inn website at http://www.blueshuttersbeachside.com.
August 4th, 2007 at 4:50 am
I can’t think of any in particular that you missed, but just wanted to second the love for “Ab Fab” .. Even if Edina is the ditziest PR woman of all time, the show is simply comedic perfection
August 6th, 2007 at 9:01 am
Couple more suggestions from my Facebook page. Since there should be some presumption of privacy on Facebook (I know, who am I fooling), I won’t say who the suggestions are from:
I’d put Triumph of the Will on the top of the list.. And I think maybe Gandhi to.. depending on how liberal you wanna be with your conceptualizations Rashomon and Man Bits Dog might be interesting as well.
Most films, I think, show PR people as unscrupulous and shallow. Wag the Dog — great movie — shows PR people as manipulators of the truth. My favorite ‘La Dolce Vita’ has Marcello Mastroianni descend to depravity from tabloid journalist to publicist.
August 6th, 2007 at 9:03 am
And I caught two minutes of “Fletch” on TV yesterday (because it’s always on somewhere, like a Bizarro “Friends”) and remembered that Chevy plays an investigative journalist working undercover. Do the movies have to be good?
August 7th, 2007 at 8:34 am
Another Facebook comment:
I guess I want to define PR to include books that instruct, inform, share beliefs, etc…In this regard, Norman Vincent Peale’s books, all Bibles, how about Widipedia. I relate PR to folklore here, passing information through social means.
August 8th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
Sarah,
Debi Mazar did make a glorious return in last week’s Entourage episode. Fit in a couple of PR stereotypes by setting up Vinny’s manager Eric for an interview with Variety that got him slammed for nepotism. She didn’t spend a lot of time on a briefing sheet for that one. There was also a funny comment about her need to take care of her baby at work.
April 10th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Oh, there’s an episode of Arrested Development that focuses on PR too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Relations_%28Arrested_Development_episode%29
June 19th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Another Facebook comment:
I agree on Wag the Dog being a great display of great PR. Not quite PR, but communications … Mad Med on AMC is wonderful.
June 25th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Now we have to add “Hancock” to the list: http://techprgems.com/2008/06/hancock-superhero-gets-pr-makeover/
August 2nd, 2008 at 9:59 pm
What about Jack Lemmon’s performance in the 1962 Blake Edwards film Days of Wine and Roses? An alcoholic PR man finally sees the light.
August 26th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Katie Paine suggested another one today: “The Truth” by Terry Pratchett