monoculture on the verge of being completely taken over by simulation, it should come
as no surprise that it is so easy for the protagonists of Wag the Dog to keep the illusion
of cinematic reality from being shattered. When the painfully apparent artifice of ‘reality
TV,’ characterized by its manipulated and staged footage, is rarely called into question,
perhaps the notion of a simulated war that has no foundation whatsoever in reality is not
really far-fetched at all.4
Once again basing his arguments on historical precedence, Brean specifies that
the President’s phony war must appear to be ‘clean,’ swift, and decisive. If there are too
many simulated casualties, then the public will begin to express dissent. Consequently,
Motss’s pageant is a grandiose vision of American military and technological prowess.
Everyone can rally behind a war in which the culpable parties are punished while
simultaneously minimizing the toll of human loss. The fact that there can be no real
collateral damage in a digitally manufactured war creates the ideal scenario for the
President. The aforementioned sex scandal all but disappears as the President’s
approval rating soars to unprecedented heights.
The model for Brean and Motss’s euphoric spectacle appears to be the Gulf War.
Due to pervasive images of smart bombs and other forms of state of the art technology,
Brean notes that the George H. W. Bush administration was able to control perception
of a war by masking human anguish itself. Although it is impossible to engage in a war
that does not induce an immeas \