Campaigning for Office in Hollywood: How the Films All the King's Men and The Contender Represent The Politics of Elections
This 3-page undergraduate paper examines the films All the King's Men and The Contender and attempts to answer some questions about the movies, including questions such as How accurately do these film portray political campaigns? Who are the important "players" in a political campaign and what function do they perform? Do the films challenge or compliment the text book version of running for office? After viewing the films, would you want to run for political office? Why or why not? How has Hollywood changed its portrayal of politics in general and, more specifically, running for office? Overall, this paper argues that examining the two films allows one to see the ways in which Hollywood depictions of political campaigns differ from text-book versions of campaigns. While history and political science textbooks may stress the process of campaigning, and may stress the ways in which democracy plays a role in the political process, Hollywood depicts the political process as one of character battles and back-room corruption. Hollywood films do not underscore the orderly process of campaigning or the individuals politicians are supposed to represent. In these ways, Hollywood seems to represent political campaigns the way the average - and suspicious - citizen views them. The depictions of campaigning in films would not make one wish to run for office, since politicians are depicted as vulnerable - either to their own greed or to the libel of others. Nevertheless, the films make interesting viewing, especially as viewing films from different eras shows how the view of political campaigns has changed, especially in terms of gender and the location of power.
