In a searing parody of American television and racial attitudes a young African American network executive, under pressure from his white boss, creates a minstrel show, hoping that it will fail and that he will be released from his network contract -- but the TV show becomes both a hit and the subject of much controversy.

Sam is a misguided museum guard who loses his job, then tries to get it back at gunpoint. Max is a local TV reporter taken hostage with schoolchildren when Sam locks down the museum. It's a desperate move for Sam, a career move for Max. He's on the inside of a live exclusive. Now he must give Sam's story a heroic spin, keep a cynical network anchor at bay and above all, keep America watching. And as Max pulls the strings, the stakes grow higher, darker,...

Examines the impact on democracy of our mass culture in which basic information comes from image-making, the media, public opinion polls, public relations and propaganda.