Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Patriotic Analysis
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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington Patriotic Analysis
Films are a means of exploring a phenomenon and illustrating contemporary issues such as political processes. One film that leads to this proposition is Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. The film portrays a combination of patriotism, optimism, humor, and drives. The author inspires his audience to understand despair, the darkness in governments and the need to fight for what is good for society. The movie contrasts the position of a naïve idealism protagonist and an eagerness for democratic morals with the distrust and corruption that have long dominated the American government (Leeds, 2017 n,p.). Although the movie is well explaining a crucial pro-American way of ruling, it is less affiliated with the nationalist propaganda. Through the film, Mr. Smith painted a clear image of a moral reformation of the political infrastructure.
The film portrays how one is fundamentally supposed to oppose different forms of fascism as the right attitude towards disregarding internal division that prevails in American society. The film, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” in its unique way, depicts how those external forces are incapable of disuniting people that are internally caring and wanting the best for one another (Leeds, 2017, n.p.). In contrast, chaos and corruption in a nation are way much independent of foreign influences. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington focuses on addressing how its contradictions in a way characterize the American administrative life. Although the film fails to explicitly reveal the political association particular individuals such as Joseph Paine or his colleague senator Jefferson, the reference to the district offices in Jackson’s city indicates that Missouri State was democratic by 1939 (Leeds, 2017, n.p.). However, a duo-party system’s dichotomous environment is cleared during Smith’s early arrival to the capital. When Mr. Smith asks the little boy to point the majority’s leader in the senate, the boy by gesture obliges towards Senator Agnew. Still, he instantly removes his pointing finger and redirects it to the minority leader, Senator Barnes. The boy’s reaction portrays the physical gap between the lesser crowds that the senators were addressing. The image that follows numerous clarification shots serves as a reminder that although the politicians present on political meetings are united in a legislative attendance, they are internally divided over party matters and can divide the people they rule.
Besides, special attention is given to all the present leaders during political rallies and meetings regardless of their political affiliation. The fact that special camera is given to both the minority and majority leader soon after Mr. Smith arrives at the capitol aids in setting the film’s tone of its political and patriotism inclination. Also, as soon as the political leaders commence to address the public, an unnamed individual shows up to criticize Mr. Smith’s frequent appearances in the national newspapers that particular morning. He criticized that almost all the Washington state newspapers depicted smiths actions as versatile performances that he is granted will with no doubt grant his party applause (Leeds, 2017, n.p.). The two occurrences that take place almost at the start of the movie dispels the perceptions that the American society could be having concerning the political homogeneity of the subject senate.
Furthermore, the film is not only anchored on rejecting the Nazi technicality of portraying a society that is unified on the emphasis of political party existence; it also focuses on enormous business vilification. For instance, Boss Tylor is the film’s principal that superintends Senator Paine and smith powerbroker’s home states (Leeds, 2017, n.p.). The character of Boss Tylor brings him out as the villain since he has control over several politicians and civil servants that tries to place him as an individual that is above the law, which effectively makes him both Missouri and Washington ruler behind the scenes. Tylor’s power is exhibited to come from his unchallenged media outlets ownership across the states. He directly points out to Senator Paine an average of 75 minutes into the movie efficiently, giving him control over the communal perception and shielding free dialogue if he chose to (Leeds, 2017, n.p.). How the villain, Boss Tailor, is portrayed as an un-fascist, fakes his true character on the entire existence society he antagonizes indirectly. According to the movie, Tylor assumed power through democratic and within the legally stipulated American framework of its capitalist nature and is not an outsider. The dynamic is fashioned in a manner that does not necessarily depict an appropriate societal model that must be safeguarded against subversion. Still, it rather leans towards reconstructing a society that purges itself on injurious elements to genuine democracy.
Additionally, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington rejects villainous leaders’ paradigms that favor pointing out the societal flaws, the leader’s characterizations that denote the ambiguity of morals present in Senator Paine’s charisma. Senator Paine’s character-defining moments are brought about when he tries to validate Tylor’s political machinery’s participation towards Mr. Smith (Leeds, 2017, n.p.). Paine tries to explain that he has served people honestly despite his compromised character and made sure that there were low unemployment rates and highest national grants during his senatorial tenure. His sentiments were a morally vague portrait of a government system that results positively and are well aware of its gapping flaws that would barely fit in a worldwide white and black portrait that the fascist propaganda necessitates to triumph (Leeds, 2017, n.p.).
From my viewpoint, movies and films fail to align themselves with the depictions that the regimes portray are not above the morally upright thresholds. The political stands were rarely shown on films; neither were they openly discussed nor examined. Conversely, the film typically relies on revealing the party that is affiliated with the conventional power symbols. The film’s events that followed were mind-opening depictions of Hitler Youth scores recruits that tend to preface his speech that regards Aryan race purity, which served as a clear purpose that affirmed the aesthetics of fascism.
Conclusively, the film, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, compares fascism values and individualism. Aesthetics of fascism rely on utilizing public ornament and white and black political theories that are fashioned to mobilize the affected population into an individual personification. Authoritarianism necessitates that people ought to be amassed into a state that personifies a godlike illustration of their dictating leaders. At the core of the film is how a dignified leader can make a significant difference even against the intolerable odds that try to deconstruct the political machinery and bring about widespread corruption awareness. Populism’s perspective of the film is anchored on dismissing the obedience call of Nazism and instead encourage its audience on how well the government in power plays its expected roles in serving the betterment of the society.
References
Leeds, D., 2017. “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” Demonstrated True Patriotism In A Time Of Fascism. Medium. https://medium.com/@davidleeds/mr-smith-goes-to-washington-demonstrated -true-patriotism-in-a-time-of-fascism-e9e710244dc
