It has often been said that politics does not mix with a lot of things as it will inevitably lead to a disaster. Be it religion, football or sports in general. One of the most common variables however which has been combined with politics as of late, has been the entertainment industry, be it movies, TV shows or even late night comedy.
To start off with, one must not dispute the influential platform’s which these entities can possess, and can therefore gain either a positive or negative reception. However, in such an industry which constitutes the cinematic world, one would expect to get their money’s worth and be satisfied that their time was well spent. With that said, movie goers and TV viewers would expect that what they watch does justice to the genre of entertainment which they’re viewing. So, if someone sits down to watch a comedic – adventure film, it’s a comedic – adventure which they expect to get, with any subtle commentary on current issues being fitted in be in unison with the stylistic qualities and traits of the show or movie. The last thing anyone would certainly be expecting is that a movie or show makes use of plotlines just for the specific reason of conveying a political agenda or message. This phenomenon has certainly been exhibited very evidently in the entertainment industry as of late, with only so many cases.
Some of these cases include, award show’s such as the Oscar’s and the Emmy’s ending up being a chance for Hollywood celebrities to make criticism towards President Trump, late night tv show’s guaranteeing an opportunity for comedians to comment on the political situation in the United States and film franchises, such as the Star Wars franchise and Disney films, which have started to contain components leaning towards identity politics, gender politics, and what’s known as SJW politics ( Social Justice Warriors) , which has stemmed from liberal-style politics. With the way these ideologies are being amalgamated with these cinematic entities, plot points and characters end up feeling like a tool for a political agenda to be conveyed, rather than having pure narrative and stylistic value. Cases such as these end up causing movie goers and fans of these films and shows feeling disappointed and disgruntled, since they feel that they didn’t get what they signed up for, and got something which they could easily have received had they just watched the news. In their view, artistic value would have been sacrificed for the sake of political bias, thus doing a disservice to the entertainment industry, as they’re not getting what they enjoy out of their favourite films or shows.
One is not saying that tv shows and films alike cannot have messages embedded in them, but doing so should at least do justice to the content and quality of the specific item of entertainment, so as to guarantee that the relationship between politics and entertainment is kept at an arm’s length, but preserved at the same time.
Written by: Jacob Callus
A Bird's Eye View 