I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore! Speech from Network (1976)

I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's worth, banks are going bust, shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter. Punks are running wild in the street and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it. We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat, and we sit watching our TV's while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be. We know things are bad - worse than bad. They're crazy. It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out anymore. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we are living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, 'Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone.' Well, I'm not gonna leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot - I don't want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street. All I know is that first you've got to get mad. You've got to say, 'I'm a HUMAN BEING, God damn it! My life has VALUE!' So I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window. Open it, and stick your head out, and yell, 'I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!' I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell - 'I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Things have got to change. But first, you've gotta get mad!... You've got to say, 'I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Then we'll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it: "I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"

[tobiojo]

my favorite line from this entire rant is " 'I'm a HUMAN BEING, God damn it! My life has VALUE!'

[roadkillz]

The tragedy of this movie is the fact that he was telling the truth but no one really believed in his message because the people were only following what he was saying because he was on tv; showing that people were still "programmed" to do what the television tells them to do despite someone trying to wake them up.

[captpicard]

1976 this came out, here we are nearly 50 years later and this is so totally on the money today, even more so than it was back then.

[michaelwallace]

It's hard to believe that more than 40 years later, that this is just as true, or more so, than it was then

[chillsoft]

It's weird seeing a movie from the 70's having more truth in one scene than most movies today have in their entire run time.

[DROC]

"I'm as mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore!"

Damn, I would pay to see a news reporter flipout like this In real life

[nicholaslindsey]

That classic line " I'm a human being god dammit, my life has value!" That always brings tears to my eyes. So much truth spoken so many years ago, and all the same shit is going on today.

[StuckOnPandora]

He gives out genuine emotion from the gut of his soul - the network turns it into a product. "We struck the mother load!"

[americanIDOLfan]

''depression, inflation, oil prices''.. so I guess things never really change.

[GuyPettingill]

One of the most prophetic scenes in film history. On many levels!

[heypistolero]

What a LEGENDARY performance! He is only 1 of 2 actors to ever be awarded an Oscar posthumously (2 is Heath Ledger) and by God he deserved it!

[siriusfox]

I'M MAD AS HELL.

AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE.

[Sombomombo]

Homeless people across the United States that day looked up and thought, "And they call me crazy for saying stuff like this."

[FureyinHD]

Its powerful but also reassuring that people felt the same anxiety 45 years ago (you know, back when everything was supposedly great)

[LPMAN]

RIP Peter Finch (September 28, 1916 – January 14, 1977), aged 60
And
RIP William Holden (April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981), aged 63
You both will be remembered as legends.

[sleepinxonxbed]

I'm here because Liam O'Brien went off the rails in Critical Role #LiamForPresident

[TheWairarapaWildcat]

I had a tear in my eye when I watched this and realized how much freedom we've really lost in the last 20 years

[richarda]

More relevant today than it was in 1976 and it was damned relevant then.

[emilyborger]

I’m mad as hell, and I’m not gonna take Sam anymore! #Liamforpres

[bluecollarhispanic]

The Russians and punks are still running wild, the air is still not fit to breathe and the water... sounds like 2024!!!! Great speech and still relevant!!!!