In the old days, people with complaints against the media had few recourses: a stern letter to the editor, perhaps, or a protesting phone call. "Captain Midnight," an outraged consumer of the space age, took more daring action. In a sneak attack made just after midnight on Sunday of last week, the self- appointed video avenger broke into an HBO presentation of the movie The Falcon and the Snowman with a cryptic message: GOODEVENING HBO FROM CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT. $12.95 A MONTH? NO WAY! (SHOWTIME/ THE MOVIE CHANNEL BEWARE).
The mysterious dispatch, seen for several minutes in the East and Midwest ,...