The story of Fox News and the power of sexual harassment is media manipulation 101. Gretchen is obviously a woman who is fed up and has struggled with harassment for so long that her case spoke for itself.  Kayla’s story of a young fresh ambitious young woman who naively wore a little black dress determined to receive a promotion was a climax point to the story. An eyeopener per say. Was Kayla disgustingly escorted to her own assault or her initiation?  Led to Roger’s office by a woman who argues that working for Fox News was better than OReilly, was the loyalty Roger demanded from the women who he employed.   

From a female gaze the movie entailed a story of power and gender and politics and socialism. A sad story but true. The real power is finding courage to come forward. When Megan’s team gives her third degree about not giving Trump a hard time in compensation for her what she calls out as her “salary, her bills, and her family”, exposes the conflicts victims face when having to speak out against their accusers. The director has way of leading the viewer into different emotions, for example when Kayla is called up to Roger’s office and Gretchen is fired and Megan joins the ladies on the elevator the music creates adrenaline, builds intensity and those were strong transitions throughout the movie. After working with someone for a period of time there is some attachment, in a company that is collaborative like a news room it is expected so the movie showed Meghan as the one who knowingly knows what she has experienced but hates to believe that it is true of others… and when she finds out she is number 23! The story is all too real!!

In a review by The New York Times, the article says that, “Having her talk to the viewer immediately makes the audience part of a very special Megyn Kelly tour group. It creates intimacy, almost a little conspiracy between you and her, so when she starts chatting about Roger (John Lithgow, galumphing with verve), including his history advising Richard M. Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, you lean in and listen. Tell us more.” (‘Bombshell’ Review: Blind Ambition and Blond Sedition at Fox News, 2019)  I agree with that and I can see how it can be a way of connecting to the viewer early in the movie by providing testimony,,, but the testimonies of the women individual story was the deal breaker for me… That right there is where the director brought real life to the big screen! From a female gaze Roger’s wife is supportive of her husband like most wife of guilty husbands are portrayed as and it help to promote the innocence Roger testifies too. The fact the he lied so convincingly time and time again was sickening! Megan from a female gaze is afraid to come face to face with her reality until she realizes how much power she has after Kayla’s confession. When Meghan is asked by her assistant” does she really wanna know or pretend like she does?”.. I think Meghan had to question that herself!