American Society and Politics in Film

In the film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Mr. Smith is portrayed as a man with a humble upbringing and no government experience that quickly becomes a prominent figure in the Senate. In short, Mr. Smith defies all odds and achieves the American dream, an ideal that many Americans believe makes the United States exceptional. The American dream is the idea that Americans are presented with equal opportunity allowing them to achieve their greatest aspirations and goals simply with hard work. To become a prominent government figure, Mr. Smith remains confident in his ideas, stays persistent, and dedicated to uprising against corruption. Although Mr. Smith worked hard for change when appointed to his position as Senator, there are a couple things that give him an advantage over many Americans: he is a white man. In actuality, many Americans of color struggle to overcome institutionalized oppression. Many of today’s governing documents were written at a time where only white men had politica...

Mikkos The film portrays an ideal America as a patriotic one. A land where any man, with enough effort can make a significant change and fight the good fight. The film shows a very corrupt government, one that is controlled by lobbyists and large corporations looking to make money. However, the film shows that the evils of corruption can be beaten simply if one tries hard enough. As most everyone knows, a single person or a very small group is not sufficient to combat corruption and big business. It takes a significantly large group of people with a lot of support to accomplish what Mr. Smith accomplished almost on his own. In the modern day, we know that there are massive lobbying firms that contribute vast sums of money to influence the decisions of our government along with corporations. Mr. Smith thought of his father’s close friend Mr. Pain as a virtuous man but politicians are not incorruptible and do not always have the best interests of American citizens in mind.

Writing Prompt: What is the ideal America portrayed in the film and the readings, and how is this reflected in the idea that the United States is exceptional? In what ways does the reality fall short of this ideal? Be sure to discuss some aspect(s) of contemporary American politics in the essay -- in other words, apply what you get out of the film and reading to an analysis of American politics.   OR   Consider the following and comment on the idea that " 'America is the only nation in the world that is founded on a creed. That creed is set forth with dogmatic and even theological lucidity in the Declaration of Independence'...the nation's ideology can be described in five words: liberty, egalitarianism, individualism, populism, and laissez-faire. " (From Seymour Martin Lipset, American Exceptionalism , 1996).

David Bernell This blog has been established for the class "American Society and Politics in Film" offered through the Oregon State University Honors College, which is in the Winter term of 2023. All writing assignments, along with any additional commentary on the films we watch, will be posted here on this blog site.  All students and the instructors will need to set up a Google account if they do not already have one. Using the "Blogger" app/function in Google, you will be able to contribute to the blog and post your entries. Everyone in the class will receive an invitation to be a contributor to the blog. The site of our blog, for anyone to view, will be https://americansocandpolfilm.blogspot.com/ .  Each person will have their own entry each week for each film. This entry will be your response to the film and the writing prompt provided. You can also post comments on other people's posts.