Quiz Show Sociology

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The movie Quiz Show follows Richard Goodwin’s attempt to discredit the Quiz Show 21 and famous contestant Charles. 21 was a high stakes quiz show were two adversaries competed to reach 21 points first, and get to stay on the show and win 10 thousand dollars. The moral of the movie is, actions taken for short term benefits can have long term consequences. The movie starts with famous 21 contestant Herb Stempel being asked by the producers to lose to Charles Van Doren an assistant teacher at Columbia University from a prominent family. As soon as Van Doren wins, the producers offer to give him the answers to the quiz questions to make sure he stays on the show. At first Van Doren is appalled by the idea but is later lured in by the opportunity of money and fame. After a few weeks on the show Van Doren becomes a massive celebrity all over the United States. Van Doren is not thinking of the consequences to him and his family if this scandal is revealed.…show more content…
He is suspicious of Van Doren’s success and suspects Van Doren is being fed the answers to the questions. Stempel does not receive the job on TV as he had been promised and is filled with rage. He accuses Van Doren of being fed the answers but is dismissed as a sore loser. However lawyer Richard Goodwin is suspicious of Van Doren and comes up to New York to investigate. The next few weeks Van Doren continues to win becoming more and more of a celebrity. He earns interviews on Time and is being mobbed by fans everywhere he goes. Van Doren still feels bad about cheating but does not want to lose the wonderful life he

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