Upamanyu Biswas
Netflix’s ‘The Man Who Loved UFOs‘ depicts the story of an Argentine journalist named José de Zer, who fabricates an alien sighting report that becomes a national sensation in the media. After receiving news about a burnt pasture in La Candelaria, the reporter and his cameraman embark on a quest to find a story with paranormal origins. However, when sufficient evidence is lacking, José produces his own version of events. Although the ethics of his actions are questionable, it leads to a huge UFO obsession among the masses as the video is released on the popular TV news show ‘Notidiario.’
Notidiario: A Fictional TV Broadcast With Vague Ties to a Real TV News Show
The show ‘Notidiario’ in ‘The Man Who Loved UFOs’ is a fictional creation by director Diego Lerman and co-writer Adrián Biniez. It is the TV broadcast where José works as an entertainment journalist, carrying out celebrity interviews amidst his other high-profile tasks. The show is owned by the company Canal 6 and is actually somewhat rooted in the real-life version of events that the movie is loosely inspired by. As it turns out, when José de Zer fabricated the alien reports, he was working for an Argentine news program named ‘Nuevediario,’ which was owned by Canal 9. Thus, the fictional TV broadcast is seemingly a stand-in for the TV show the journalist was really working for.
Even before the UFO landing story came up on his radar, José de Zer was an experienced journalist who had dabbled in all types of stories. However, after joining ‘Nuevediario’ in 1984, the reporter’s coverage ranged from outlandish paranormal stories to gritty, on-field crime reporting. His style of delivery made him attractive to the Argentine public, who saw his more exaggerated stories as a bit of fun and excitement. Therefore, when the opportunity arose in 1986, José became responsible for setting up one of the most extravagant claims of alien hauntings near Córdoba, Argentina, where he spent six months with his cameraman, Chango. It proved to be one of the most successful stories in the ‘Nuevediario’ broadcast, increasing the viewership count.
Later, the alien story was debunked after most of the evidence was found to be planted by José de Zer himself. In 1994, the reporter left ‘Nuevediario’ after spending a decade chasing both the paranormal and the real in equal measure. The movie reflects the protagonist’s career in journalism through the fictional counterpart of ‘Notidiario,’ which also boasts its own set of bosses. At numerous points within the story, José battles with the higher-ups at Notidiario to get his opinions heard and make demands to them about how they should approach a certain story. Although the show has clear ties to ‘Nuevediario,’ it is still separate from reality because it does not exist.
Read More: The Man Who Loved UFOs Ending, Explained: Are the Aliens Real?
