{"id":21217,"date":"2018-08-27T12:02:49","date_gmt":"2018-08-27T17:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/?p=21217"},"modified":"2018-08-27T12:14:18","modified_gmt":"2018-08-27T17:14:18","slug":"my-voice-can-a-political-agenda-ruin-a-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/tartan-news\/2018\/08\/27\/my-voice-can-a-political-agenda-ruin-a-movie\/","title":{"rendered":"My Voice: Can a Political Agenda Ruin a Movie"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0Politics is everywhere today, isn\u2019t it? It seems as though you can\u2019t scroll through your newsfeed or read a newspaper without hearing about some conspiracy or protest group. \u00a0We live in a troubling time where everyone\u2019s opinion matters, except if it disagrees with yours. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Since the dawn of social media, political propaganda has run ramped across all forms of media and doesn\u2019t appear to be going away anytime soon. One such form of media that has been tainted by politics in the past is the silver screen. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Now movies have been used to promote propaganda for decades. Films like “Dr. Strangelove” and “Citizen Kane” were driven by political bias. However today, movies are more politically driven than ever. Producers and writers seem more focused on appealing to different demographics and social-interest groups rather than make a good movie. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Regardless of where you may stand on these issues, you\u2019ve seen both conservative and liberal messages promoted in films of all genres. But just how and when do these messages hinder modern cinema? <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Now let me start off by clarifying that there is nothing wrong with a moral in a movie. Some of the greatest movies of all time are centered around a nugget of truth. As well, politics can add depth to a film if used correctly. \u201cCaptain America: Civil War\u201d tied in political commentary very well. Rather than beat you over the head with one view, it showed both sides of the argument, and let the audience decide for themselves which to side with. Putting politics or a moral in a story is perfectly acceptable. The problem arises when the politics and moral are placed above the story. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0A prime example of this is \u201cWall-E.\u201d This movie starts off with breathtaking visuals, and a surprisingly beautiful love story between two robots trying to find plant life in a post-human earth. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Sadly, this otherwise creative and different premise for a movie is bogged down by an out of left field, ham-fisted message about capitalism and environmental preservation. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0 \u00a0Regardless of how you feel about the issues addressed, they totally suck you out of the experience of a movie. You\u2019re no longer watching a story play out, you\u2019re watching a public service announcement. You\u2019re no longer being entertained, you\u2019re being manipulated. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0So many movies have fallen victim to this flaw including \u201cIron Giant\u201d, \u201cSpiderman\u201d and \u201cThe Matrix.\u201d All of these are good films in their own right, but the sudden and blatant political agendas are so in your face, that they stick out like a sore thumb. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Some movies totally throw subtlety out the window and base the whole plot around political messages. Case and point, \u201cThe Emoji Movie.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0In addition to one-dimensional characters and shameless product placement, this abysmal excuse for a movie is like a jackhammer of political commentary to the forehead. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0It doesn\u2019t treat its audience with any respect and cares only about throwing in as many political messages as possible without any context or reasoning. This comes as less endearing, and more like passive aggressive marketing. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0So it seems as though political agendas can in fact ruin movies, or at least make them less refined. But the question remains, should we avoid them all together? <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0The answer is yes and no. As I previously stated, there\u2019s nothing wrong with including morals in a movie. After all, we live in a free country where we are blessed with the freedom to express our opinions and beliefs. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0However, political issues are very divisive, and I believe they should not become the focus of movies that are meant to entertain. But it is not impossible to include social commentary in a movie without causing a riot. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cFinding Nemo\u201d does have an environmentally friendly undertone, but it\u2019s never directly referenced and doesn\u2019t overtake the story. The themes are there, but they\u2019re not being shoved down your throat. The story and focus are on a father traveling the ocean to rescue his son and happen to come across obstacles like fishermen. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Whether or not people agree with what\u2019s implied, they are more invested in the gripping story, so the movie is beloved on both sides of the political aisle. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0In the end, it\u2019s okay to include subtle political commentary as long as it\u2019s not crammed in our faces, and as long as it doesn\u2019t sabotage the plot.<\/span><\/p>\n

Samuel Claude<\/strong>
\nReporter\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0Politics is everywhere today, isn\u2019t it? It seems as though you can\u2019t scroll through your newsfeed or read a newspaper without hearing about some conspiracy or protest group. \u00a0We live in a troubling time where everyone\u2019s opinion matters, except if it disagrees with yours. \u00a0 \u00a0Since the dawn of social media, political propaganda has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10416,"featured_media":21264,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2112,2217,2109,3],"tags":[308,1407,1388,2472],"class_list":["post-21217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-films","category-my-voice","category-opinion","category-tartan-news","tag-movies","tag-my-voice","tag-politics","tag-samuel-claude"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Citizan-Kane.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5s3vR-5wd","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10416"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21217"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21265,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21217\/revisions\/21265"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}