History Main / WhatDoYouMeanitsNotPolitical

** When the show came back in 2005 with the main writer being out of the closet gay, many people accused the show of trying to push the gay agenda. Especially when [[ExtremeOmnisexual Captain Jack Harkness]] (AnythingThatMoves) arrived.

* The Website/{{Wikipedia}} article on {{Yatta}} used to include this:

* Though considered a classic today, ''Film/DirtyHarry'' also earned the fascist epithet from Kael and other contemporary critics. Though director Don Siegel (a liberal) and Creator/ClintEastwood (a libertarian) both denied any intended political message, it's often read as an endorsement of police brutality despite showing [[BlackAndGrayMorality Harry being nearly as violent and unhinged as Scorpio]]. It seems likely that the sequel, ''Film/MagnumForce'', was conceived to address these criticisms, since its villains are vigilante cops who take Harry's hard-edged methods of law enforcement UpToEleven, and are in no way portrayed as heroic.

* Though considered a classic today, ''Film/DirtyHarry'' also earned the fascist epithet from Kael and other contemporary critics. Though director Don Siegel (a liberal) and Creator/ClintEastwood (a libertarian) both denied any intended political message, it's often read as an endorsement of police brutality despite showing [[BlackAndGrayMorality Harry being nearly as violent and unhinged as Scorpio]].

* [[http://filbypott.blogspot.com/2007/08/when-everyone-is-super-no-one-will-be.html Some people argued]] that ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' was pro-[[UsefulNotes/{{Objectivism}} Objectivist]] propaganda, although the theory has since lost popularity and the creator has stated himself that he never intended such a message.

* ''Series/TheAmericans'': A show that glamorizes UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan and the UsefulNotes/ColdWar with BigBad DirtyCommunists all over the place, on Creator/{{Fox|News Channel}}? It's almost too easy...

* Some even call ''Franchise/TheMuppets'' political. Many people on [[Creator/FoxNewsChannel more conservative news shows]] were upset that the movie's villain was a CEO who wanted to drill for oil, saying that the Muppets were ''promoting class warfare for children.'' They didn't do their research, since it later becomes clear that Tex Richman is evil not because he is a CEO, rich, or wants oil, but ''because he is unable to laugh'' and laughter, aka the third greatest gift ever, is necessary for happiness. In a possible AuthorsSavingThrow, Disney made the villain of [[Film/MuppetsMostWanted the next Muppet movie]] a Russian war criminal, which Fox News could conceivably interpret as a TakeThat against communism (even though Constantine Frog is not a communist).

* ''WesternAnimation/PawPatrol'' has been labeled a vehicle for propaganda of right-wing ideas from virtually every spectrum, from [[https://fee.org/articles/paw-patrol-might-be-the-most-libertarian-kids-movie-ever/ libertarian]], [[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/paw-patrol-encourages-kids-to-embrace-capitalism-1.5455625 neoliberal]], and even [[https://www.pointsincase.com/lists/paw-patrol-episodes-that-not-so-subtly-promote-fascism fascist]].

* ''VideoGame/DetroitBecomeHuman'': The game is clearly an allegory for civil rights and slavery with androids taking the place of blacks and other minorities, but David Cage has denied this. However, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwVERl0OYjc this video from Mother's Basement]] shows how this claim is incorrect, and just how bad this allegory is.

** There were also accusations of the reverse. The Shire was likened to an idealized Germany, and the rampant racism-[[BeautyEqualsGoodness every good race is pretty]], tall and blonde, has "Aryan" aesthetics... Notwithstanding that most of the characters are not blonde or tall, Tolkien hated how the Nazis use of Germanic and Norse legends put them in a bad light, and it is on record that he berated a German editor who asked him if he was "Aryan" (see Quotes page).

->''I've had the theory that the moral depiction of dragons in popular fantasy gives a decent rough indicator of the global financial situation. In a boom, you see, the hoarding of gold is more likely to be considered to be a harmless eccentricity, even something desirable, and dragons are noble and nice. But in a recession, when everyone hates the people with all the money, then dragons are villains. Examples: Smaug is the archetypal asshole dragon, and Literature/TheHobbit was written in the Great Depression.''

* ''Film/RRR'': Has been linked to rising Hindu nationalism in India and has been seen as propaganda for this growing right-wing movement.

* The Chinese historical/fantasy movie ''Film/Hero2002'' was regarded as highly controversial particularly in America because of the conclusion of [[spoiler:the main character accepting that a brutal dictatorship is the only thing that can stop the centuries of civil war and allowing the evil emperor to live is better for everyone than allowing the wars to continue forever]], which was widely interpreted as Chinese political propaganda against human rights activists and the democratic movement. Mostly likely a case of ValuesDissonance, as the {{Determinator}} is still a very highly regarded trope in America, while the movie's message of KnowWhenToFoldEm finds much more acceptance in Europe.
** Extremely controversial in Taiwan. The First Emperor has been a bad guy in Chinese culture for 2000 years; his position of support for a strong united China was seen as an attack on Taiwanese independence.

** The ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers1978'' remake starring Donald Sutherland made things a lot clearer and kept the paranoia but changed the focus to [[GreenAesop environmental pollution]].

* ''Film/RichieRich'': While the film is mostly light-hearted, at multiple times it takes swipes at cutthroat yuppie capitalism and makes a strong defense of employer-guaranteed employment. The former, embodied by Reginald and Van Dough, is not just bad for the working man, but detrimental to the bottom line in the long run. The latter, embodied by Richie and his father, not only helps the working man but is more sustainable for the bottom line.

Also note that only rarely is this analysis laudatory. Nine times out of ten, the critic is repulsed by the supposed moral/philosophical/social/whatever point a work is making, and uses their argument to condemn the author. This can even result in a sort of premortem DeathOfTheAuthor if the critic claims that ''everything'' [[{{Bulverism}} in the work arises from subconscious attitudes the author may or may not have]] (a possible side effect of the [[UsefulNotes/TheAuteurTheory ''auteur'' theory]]). The argument might even be applied to an entire society of a particular time and place, with the implication that because the audience enjoyed something ''as entertainment'', [[SeriousBusiness they must have applied its values to their daily lives as well]].

* Upon its release in the U.S., the Creator/StudioGhibli film ''Anime/{{Arrietty}}'' was accused as a pro-"Occupy Wall Street" propaganda film out to demonize the 1% and push environmental agendas along with ''WesternAnimation/TheLorax2012''.
* Shortly after its release, many began suspecting that ''Anime/CodeGeass'''s Britannian Empire and its resource-grubbing expansionism was meant to be a thinly veiled potshot at America and UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror, to the point where some began calling for a boycott of the show's eventual US release. In an interview near the end of the first season, director/co-creator Goro Taniguchi [[WordOfGod stated]] that this is not the case, insisting that the whole reason he made the show was to tell an entertaining story and not to make any kind of political message. That the main character [[DefectorFromDecadence is Britannian himself]] probably helped reduce any backlash.

* ''[[ComicBook/TheSmurfs Smurf versus Smurf]]'', where the Smurf village is divided in a mutually hostile Northern and Southern part because of language differences, gets a whole new perspective when you remember that it is originally a ''Belgian'' comic book. For the record, the northeastern part of Belgium (Flanders) is Dutch, and the southwestern part (Wallonia) is French. But this seems pretty superfluous when one realizes that the original Belgian name for "The Smurfs" (''Les Schtroumpfs'') combines both Latin and Germanic linguistic elements.

* ''ComicBook/{{Tintin}}'': Entire analyses and debates have been held to determine whether the comic strip is right wing or left wing. The accusations for its right wing position are the use of national and racial stereotypes and Creator/{{Herge}}'s own associations with far-right people like Léon Degrelle (leader of the Nazi collaborating Belgian party Rex during World War Two) and working for ''Le Soir'' during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, a newspaper that was owned by the Nazis. On the other hand, Tintin has travelled the world and met people of various races and nationalities. Some of them bad, some of them good. There's no overt political undertone in the series and Borduria is portrayed as a cross between a Nazi and Communist state. Hergé himself always said: "The left claim I'm right wing, the right claim I'm left wing."

* It's been suggested that the the giant red chain-snake shackling and torturing the Mare in the '80s Hungarian ''Animation/SonOfTheWhiteHorse'' represented the country's communist control. There's some merit to this: the Mare ''does'' symbolize Hungarians and their ancestors, the scene was added to the story by the filmmakers, [[Creator/MarcellJankovics the director]] has been outspoken of his right-wing leanings and his distaste for the communist era, and the movie [[WorldOfSymbolism is chock full of symbolism both obscure and obvious]], but the creators have not commented on the scene in question. The film was made under heavy scrutiny by censors, making it unlikely that any obvious political agenda would have slipped in.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'' has a scene where Remy's dad tells him how they have to hate and fear humans because humans will never stop trying to kill them, and there's nothing that can be done about it, so stop hoping for peace and just fight the war, or sentiments to that effect. While it's written well enough that you could put his words in the mouth of any leader in the midst of [[ForeverWar a bitter and apparently endless conflict]], it's almost impossible to watch the scene without thinking "terrorists". It doesn't help at all that Remy has a mild ShutUpHannibal moment?

* Some viewers see an allegory to the European refugee crisis in ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBirdsMovie''. It has references to ''Amnesty International'' and the "Coexist" logo, the 3 main birds are the colours of the German flag (and in at least one scene even in the same order), the pigs have beards which look strangely Arabian (especially odd considering none of the pigs in the original game have beards), there's a bald eagle that looks similar to a certain presidential candidate, a mime bird shows up (reminiscent of the Paris attacks) and various other such details.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'' features a complex example. WordOfGod says the plot to the series was thought up in the 1970s and based on [[UsefulNotes/RichardNixon contemporary]] [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar events]], but many suspect Creator/GeorgeLucas' storywriting to be somewhat of an IndyPloy, the prequels storyline not crystalizing until later. Furthermore, there is Anakin's "If you are not with me, then you're my enemy" quote, which is an OlderThanTheyThink quote, one from Literature/TheBible.

** It doesn't help that ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' starts to drift into CreatorsCultureCarryover territory toward the end, when Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi speak of "a special session of Congress." In-universe, the legislature is usually called the "Galactic Senate", "senate" being a more-or-less universal term while "congress" (''especially'' with a capital letter -- again going back to AncientRome) is more an Americanism.

* ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers1956'' is a famous example. Produced at the height of the 1950s anti-Communist paranoia, the movie has often been taken for an allegory for that, although nobody's clear about whether pod people represent Communists, or whether they represent [=McCarthyists=] who attack those who are different. The lead actor has stated on the DVD that the movie wasn't intended to be any kind of political commentary (since Senator [=McCarthy=] and his followers had already been discredited in the eyes of most Americans by the time filming began, it's unlikely that the allegory was anything but subconscious). Don Siegel, the film's director, was no liberal either.
* The ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers1978'' remake starring Donald Sutherland made things a lot clearer, and kept the paranoia but changed the focus to [[GreenAesop environmental pollution]].
* ''Film/ThreeHundred''. Complicated again, as the (accurate to the comics) movie adaptation was made during UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror, which Creator/FrankMiller supports, but the original comic was written a decade earlier. Notably, though, people who take this tack disagree on whether the Spartans are meant to represent the US and the Persians Islamic terrorism, or the other way around; it could be seen as brave Western freedom-lovers fighting Middle Eastern tyrants[[note]]Historical Ancient Greeks, from the 4th century [=BC=], [[RealityIsUnrealistic spoke just like that]]: a Greek by education is a free man, who does not bow to Eastern tyranny and superstition[[/note]] or as a vast and diverse empire underestimating a local population and getting its butt kicked. At a March 2007 press conference, director Creator/ZackSnyder found himself nonplussed when asked by a reporter whether King Leonidas was meant to be UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush or UsefulNotes/OsamaBinLaden. Original author Frank Miller claims that his comic to a large degree was inspired by the 1962 film ''Film/The300Spartans'', which is often considered to be a metaphor for the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. Whether such a message was intended or not is far from clear.

** Some interpret the sonar cell phone subplot in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' as an allegory for modern day safety measures by the former Bush administration.

** ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' got this in the week prior to its opening, where Creator/RushLimbaugh claimed that the name of the villain, Bane, is a thinly veiled jab at Presidential nominee Mitt Romney's former company Bain Capital, which had been in the news for the past few weeks. This is a pretty obvious fact-check failure, as Bane has been around as a character for at least two decades. Bain Capital had only been in the news for a few weeks, and Bane was revealed to be the villain of the movie almost two years prior, when Mitt Romney himself wasn't even a likely presidential candidate. Furthermore, Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan, Bane's creators back in the 1990s, are both Republicans (which is pretty obvious from the subtext of many of the former’s stories). Dixon wrote an op-Ed on a conservative website on their behalf where he announced that they hadn't intended Bane to be any sort of political commentary; their only goal in creating Bane was to [[OnlyInItForTheMoney sell comic books and make money]]. He also wrote about how it’s one of the few adaptations of the character that the both of them like.

* With ''Film/DragMeToHell'' being centered around a loan officer being condemned to hell for foreclosing an old woman's home, many have interpeted it as a reaction to the the 2007 - 2009 financial crisis. However, director Creator/SamRaimi [[https://web.archive.org/web/20100102081824/http://screencrave.com/2009-05-27/sam-raimi-interview-for-drag-me-to-hell/ stated]] that the story was written years beforehand, and that he didn't pay too much attention to the crisis when making it.

* Some have referred to ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}}'' as [[http://washingtonexaminer.com/why-ghostbusters-is-the-most-libertarian-hollywood-blockbuster-of-all-time/article/2544522 "the most libertarian Hollywood blockbuster of all time"]], because of how every government official is either [[ObstructiveBureaucrat too abrasive]] and/or ineffectual to save the day. It could be argued, though, that this slant approaches Administrivia/PeopleSitOnChairs territory, since any action film featuring vigilante heroes is naturally going to portray the Establishment as incompetent and/or corrupt (and since the protagonists are running a business in New York, an overly-pushy regulative authority is the most logical choice for a human antagonist).
* ''Film/Ghostbusters2016'' was treated as this due to the fact that the cast was given a GenderFlip. The situation got worse when men's rights activists and some uncharitable fans of the franchise complained about it online. In liberal social media circles, voicing dislike for the film, even if it wasn't because of the Gender Flip for the cast, was seen as you admitting to being sexist and misogynistic. It got to the point where admitting to being a ''Ghostbusters'' fan (or a fan of anything in the franchise, for example ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'') was considered a political act in and of itself. After the film was released, however, the whole controversy vanished from the public sphere, and has since become a footnote in the franchise's history.

** Whereas in Japan, the monster was critcized for having been slimmed down for American audiences.

* An In-Universe example happens in ''Film/{{Joker}}''. While Arthur did kill three employees of Wayne Industries, it was partially out of self defense and had nothing to do with a classist belief. This doesn't stop the citizens of Gotham from using it as a political point against the rich.

* ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd'' had shades of this, with the suspending of liberties and trials for suspected pirates by a corrupt government intent on wiping out a bunch of terrorizing marauders. Never mind that the suspension of civil liberties, especially in colonies and ''particularly'' for pirates, was a historical occurrence far predating any modern political situation. The screenwriters claimed to have taken the proclamation read in the film's opening from a real British colonial document circa 1800, but admitted that it was hard for viewers not to draw contemporary parallels.

** Around the time of its release, there was an online petition parodying this phenomenon by arguing against it on the basis that it was an [[DistancedFromCurrentEvents insensitive name in the wake of the 9/11 tragedy]] (whereas the title was thought up in the 1940s, before the World Trade Center even existed). Astoundingly, [[PoesLaw it drummed up some serious support from people who didn't check their facts]].

* ''Film/{{Monsters|2010}}'' has a bunch of aliens from Mexico trying to get into America and succeeding despite a gigantic wall and security to keep them out. These aliens are stereotyped as villains in propaganda. These aliens are apparently not metaphors for Mexican immigration to the U.S according to director Creator/GarethEdwards, but that hasn't stopped people from drawing the comparison. The fact that Mexican immigrants making the border crossing are characters within the story and there really is a wall being built on the Mexican-American border does not help.

** Extremely controversial in Taiwan.The First Emperor has been a bad guy in Chinese culture for 2000 years; his position of support for a strong united China was seen as an attack on Taiwanese independence.

** It's probably more deliberate in the sequels. For one, director J. Lee Thompson admitting to modeling the ape rebellion in ''Film/ConquestOfThePlanetOfTheApes'' after footage of the Watts Riot. A black character makes this explicit when begging the apes, as a descendant of slaves, to be merciful with humans.

* ''Film/IronMan'': With Tony taking the fight to Middle-Eastern terrorists in the [[Film/IronMan1 first film]] and refusing to hand his property over to the government in the second, there are [[http://www.nypost.com/f/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/iron_man_capitalist_hero_nSJtnJhWoMHEkC9D6a6cSN some]] who see him as the ultimate conservative/Republican/Libertarian/Objectivist super hero. Which actually makes sense, considering that Stan Lee has talked about how he enjoyed the idea of creating a character like Tony Stark in the middle of TheSixties, saying that he wanted to create "the quintessential capitalist," explore Cold War themes, and that "I think I gave myself a dare. It was the height of the Cold War. The readers, the young readers, if there was one thing they hated, it was war, it was the military.... So I got a hero who represented that to the hundredth degree. He was a weapons manufacturer, he was providing weapons for the Army, he was rich, he was an industrialist.... I thought it would be fun to take the kind of character that nobody would like, none of our readers would like, and shove him down their throats and make them like him.... And he became very popular."

* British horror flick ''Film/TheRezort'' involves wealthy Westerners going on a safari to hunt zombies for fun. The twist comes when it's learned the titular resort is kept going by infecting AmbiguouslyBrown refugees, and using them as targets for the tourists. Considering the on-going refugee crisis in Europe, it could be argued the film draws a parallel with its discussion of exploitation and dehumanization.

* ''Film/RRR'': Has been linked to rising Hindu nationalism in India and has been seen as propaganda for this growing right wing movement.

* The Chinese legend on which the Moon Festival is based. Everyone agrees there were ten suns; the archer Hou-Yi shot down nine of them to stop the Earth from burning up, the Celestial Emperor gave him a pill of immortality as a reward, and his wife stole it and fled to the moon. The politics is in the motivation: she was a selfish woman who wanted to live forever (if everybody knew their place Hou-Yi would have made this a better world); she sacrificed herself because sh knew Hou-Yi would become an immortal tyrant (yay for the common people and insurrection).
* ''Film/HouseOfWhipcord'' is an exploitation film from 1974 about a disgraced ex-prison warden who kidnaps young women she feels have committed moral crimes, and incarcerates them in her own prison. The film came out at the time Mary Whitehouse was spearheading her 'Clean Up TV' campaign (and the protagonist is imprisoned for having been photographed topless in public) and right-wing Christian attitudes were on the rise in the UK at the time. WordOfGod is that he was actually inspired by a prison governess from Victorian times - who was dismissed for being too cruel to the prisoners. The similarities between Mary Whitehouse and Margaret Wakehurst are purely coincidental; as Margaret was the real warden's name. Pete Walker stressed that Mary Whitehouse was more of a "kindly librarian" sort than the religious zealot Margaret is, so if there are resemblances, they're purely subconscious.

* Creator/JRRTolkien's ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' has often been in various and conflicting way by different people, often seeing it as a direct allegory of something. Tolkien himself denied it was an allegory of anything, but that due to its archetypal quality it had lots of "{{applicability}}".

** There were also accusations of the reverse. The Shire was likened to an idealized Germany, and the rampant racism-[[BeautyEqualsGoodness every good race is pretty]], tall and blonde, has "Aryan" aesthetics... Notwithstanding that most of the characters are not blonde or tall, Tolkien hated how the Nazis use of Germanic and Norse legends put them in bad light, and it is on record that he berated a German editor who asked him if he was "Aryan" (see Quotes page).
** The Scouring of the Shire, with it's rather un-Middle-Earth-like lists of rules and complaints about rationing has been interpreted as a TakeThat to the post-war Labour government of 1945, another thing Tolkien himself explicitly denied in his foreward to the Second Edition.

* Apparently the author of ''Literature/EnchantressFromTheStars'', Sylvia Louise Engdahl, got enough questions about this that she answered in on her website's [[http://www.sylviaengdahl.com/elana.htm FAQ]]. Many people were under the impression that TheFederation's relationship with the Younglings (a primitive planet with medieval technology) was an allegory for how 19th century European scientists viewed other races as primitive animals.

** To elaborate, in the third book, "Nightrise", The villainous Old Ones are supported by a sinister corporation called Nightrise. During an election they work to sabotage the candidate John Trelawney, and even set up an assassination plot. Although no parties are actually named, Trelawney's opposition to Nightrise's corruption and his anxiety over guns make it likely that he is a Democrat, making Nightrise's preferred candidate Charlie Baker a Republican. [[spoiler: Nightrise rig the election so Baker wins.]]

** The first episode has a stirring speech from Mike Peterson that could be read as commentary on race relations in America, as well as the specific institutional discrimination faced by many African-Americans. The role was allegedly written as race neutral, with Nicholas Brendon from ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' (who is ''very'' white) being one of the contenders at one point.

*** Simmons calling out HYDRA's history books "complete disregard for historic and scientific facts" is another TakeThat against the UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump administration, often called out for precisely that.

** {{President Evil}}s are an atavistic evil archetype in what might as well be called American mythology. Practically every American president was roughly comparable to President Clark [[{{Demonization}} if you believe the opposition]]. Drawing from this folklore, is in a sense no different then appealing to Babylonian myth.
** Besides, President Clark bears a resemblance to UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson, particularly since he comes to office with the assassination of his predecessor (the image of his inauguration looks just like the famous photo of Johnson's), that he turns out to have orchestrated, as some RealLife {{Conspiracy Theorist}}s claim [[WhoShotJFK happened]] with UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy.
** JMS has written several episodes where he purposefully did not take a stand in the issue presented, but rather presented both sides and let the viewers draw their own conclusions. This hasn't stopped many people from claiming that such episodes are clearly (for/against) (their views/views opposing their own). One example of an inversion of this trope is the episode ''Confessions and Lamentations'', which is about a fresh outbreak of an alien disease that was believed to be spread through immoral behavior. A lot of people claimed this episode was meant as an allegory for AIDS, missing the fact that it's a closer parallel to the Black Death (which is even discussed in the episode itself). JMS has gone on record as stating that the point of the episode was to say that politicizing a disease is never a good idea. He did, however, explicitly compare the Clark administration to George W. Bush in one of the DVD commentaries.
--->'''Creator/JMichaelStraczynski''': A lot of our episodes are [[{{Applicability}} constructed to work as mirrors]]; you see what you put into it. "Believers" has been interpreted as pro- religion, anti-religion, and religion-neutral... "Quality" has been interpreted, as you note, as pro-capital punishment, and anti-capital punishment. We do, as you say, much prefer to leave the decision on what things mean to the viewer to hash out. A good story should provoke discussion, debate, argument... [[BarBrawl and the occasional bar fight]].

** The general line in fan analysis is that "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E5TheWebPlanet The Web Planet]]" is a RedScare allegory, because it's about the Zarbi workers rising up against their Menoptera masters. But it's a ''really'' big reach — there's no absolutely no indication the Zarbi are any more intelligent than farm animals, and even though the monster in the story [[OurMonstersAreWeird has the power to control gold]] it doesn't work in any way analogous to any kind of economic system, which seems like it'd be a no-brainer for an anti-communism story. Maybe it's just a PlanetaryRomance {{Xenofiction}} runaround with pretty butterfly people fighting the ant people?

* ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'': The 2018 revival is being treated as this due to Roseanne (the star and her character) being a supporter of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump and clashing with her liberal daughter and granddaughter. The situation got worse when Trump gave Roseanne Barr a congratulatory phone call her and proclaimed to his base that the show "belongs to us", as well as evidence of Barr promoting anti-liberal conspiracy theories and satirical photos of her dressed up as Adolf Hitler resurfaced. In social media circles, the show is being called a mainstream bullhorn for the Trump movement, and it's gotten to the point where just watching it (or not) is being considered political act in and of itself.
* [[http://www.slate.com/id/2177380/pagenum/all/ This Slate article]], which explains that Jerry Series/{{Seinfeld}} and his comedy routine represents conformity and lack of identity in a totalitarian government. Um... right.

** There is also an exception for the Abrahamic religions. Christianity gets directly mentioned exactly once in the series, and then in a (more or less) positive light. The TrueCompanions travel to a world where the people were culled from MiddleAges England. Daniel posits a theory (which turns out to be wrong) that the Goa'uld who controls this world may be posing as the {{God}} of the Abrahamic faiths. Teal'c dismisses this idea, stating that he's read Literature/TheBible and finds it impossible to imagine that any Goa'uld could be as benevolent as the deity from that book. Meanwhile the other two, Islam and Judaism, are never adressed at all. There ''is'' however a Goa'uld who poses as {{Satan}} and turned a planet/moon into hell just because he could.

* The children's television show ''Series/{{Teletubbies}}'' was accused of promoting the homosexual agenda to children. It was also (more than once) accused of promoting communism, conformity, lack of critical thinking and a "the state takes care of everything" mentality (or a "everything should be free" mentality).
* A rather odd example is ''Series/ThatsMyBush''. Despite being created by Creator/TreyParkerAndMattStone and featuring the former President's administration and family as characters, it wasn't intended as political satire, but rather a parody of cookie cutter 80s sitcoms. (Parker and Stone admitted that, just in case things had gone the other way, they also had a pitch for a sitcom about Al Gore, and said they would have used more or less the same jokes no matter who'd actually won.)

* ''Series/{{Westworld}}'': Because of the show's themes where the host characters, particularly the female leads, are being abused and mistreated only to fight back against their oppressors, many viewers noticed that the show is very relevant to the #[=MeToo=] movement particularly with Season 2 as acknowledged by Creator/EvanRachelWood. She, together with the showrunners, admitted the parallels are coincidentally similar since the show aired a year before the #[=MeToo=] movement. Jon Nolan said that they wanted the show to be "timeless" and looking at the show as a metaphor for how humans mistreated each other can be applied to any moment in history.

* The Music/{{Rush|Band}} song entitled "The Trees" has lyrics about maples who feel they don't get enough sunlight and oaks who can't fathom the maples circumstances. Oddly enough, according to lyricist Neil Peart, the song is about trees. Really. He was watching an old cartoon about anthropomorphic trees one night and decided to write a song about it.

* Viking metal bands are sometimes accused of promoting fascism, Nazism or white supremacism, largely because they make use of [[HitlerAteSugar the same Norse and Germanic imagery which the Nazi party drew on]]. A majority of the bands are emphatic that this is not the case. It doesn't help that a few ''are'' promoting fascism, Nazism, etc.

* [[Music/GenesisBand Genesis']] manager, listened to their song Mama, and confused the theme as pertaining to abortion. Phil Collins clarified to him that it was about a 'young teenager that's got a mother fixation with a prostitute'.

* Music/GreenDay's "Wake Me Up When September Ends" is usually interpeted to be about 9/11, but it's actually a tribute to Billie Joe Armstrong's late father. The confusion is fairly understandable, given how ''Music/AmericanIdiot'' does contain a lot of themes regarding a Post-9/11 America, and the music video displayed a couple torn apart by the Iraq war. Arguably, ''American Idiot'' in itself is an example of this -- The TitleTrack and "Holiday" are the only overtly political songs on the album, and the rest is a RockOpera criticizing the punk movement.

** The depiction of the corrupt and foolish Count in ''Figaro'' is sometimes seen as a statement by Mozart against aristocratic rule, even though Mozart ''didn't write words'', Mozart wrote music. Lorenzo da Ponte wrote the libretto, the based on Beaumarchais' "Le Marriage de Figaro."

* Some who had played ''VideoGame/AceCombat5TheUnsungWar'' addressed the anti war posturing as commentary on UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush and the war in Iraq. The plot itself is actually based on the UsefulNotes/ColdWar [[spoiler:where insiders on both sides are instigating the war]] with the real message being that the characters are against war, but are willing to fight the ones who live on WarForFunAndProfit.
* ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'' throws up some interesting ones by having the various nations and [=COs=] represent different countries, with many of the parallels focusing on World War II. It can get confusing, though: it's generally agreed that Green Earth represents Germany, but their [=COs=] represent all of Western Europe: Eagle is World War II Germany (superior air force and Lightning Strike being the English translation of "Blitzkrieg"), Drake is ''probably'' Britain (naval superiority and various parallels with Sir Francis Drake fighting off the Spanish Armada), Jess is ''probably'' Napoleonic France (superior land forces and resupply powers: compare Napoleon's "An army marches on its stomach" quote) and Javier is ''probably'' Spain (because he talks and acts rather like Literature/DonQuixote). Olaf is obviously General Winter as well as a Communist defector, Grit the very embodiment of Soviet artillery doctrine, and Colin and Sasha, amusingly, are either kulaks or the NEP. Kanbei embodies samurai honour, Sonja an amusing inversion of actual Japanese military security (which leaked like a sieve), Sensei the IJA's own special forces and Grimm's focus on all-out offensive reflects the closing days of Japanese desperation in both Ichi-Go and kamikaze.
* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedUnity'': It is really, really, hard for a game about the French Revolution to escape this. Especially for a Franchise that has formerly prized itself for historical research and an even handed look at the American Revolution.
** The reaction and charges of "propaganda" and the great number of errors in representation has brought a great deal of criticism as well. Jean-Clement Martin, the historian who has served as a consultant for the game, and a respected member of the Society of Robespierre Studies, while noting that the script had a "royalist" bias feels that the game should be enjoyed as "fantasy" and perhaps if it stokes interest, it could lead players to read history books.

* ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'': [[spoiler:It turns out in the third game that Imulsion, human society's main fuel source, was responsible for the entire conflict because it turned the locust into the [[OurZombiesAreDifferent lambent]], who forced the surviving locust to seek refuge on the surface, leading to the war with the humans. Even before any of that had come to light, humans had been engaged in unending wars over imulsion resources.]] Let me say that again. A rare and valuable fuel source (oil) is responsible for centuries of non-stop war, the destruction of society, and turning everyone into mindless zombies.

* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' has been compared to UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror. The UNSC (Mostly played by Americans) vs. the genocidal, insane, religious Covenant. Bungie's religious references don't help. However, Bungie has denied this, and it is helped by the fact that they have a well known plan to take over the world.

** Upon being discovered by the rest of the galaxy the Krogan were ruthlessly exploited by races far more technolgically developed than they were, and once they were no longer needed and became a problem, the development of their a civilization was neutered both [[DepopulationBomb physically]] and [[MedievalStasis societally]] to the point of being almost totally untenable. The historically minded will note the similarities to the European colonization of Africa and the post-decolonization issues that continue to be a problem today.
** The story of the Quarians losing their homeworld and much of their population in a [[InferredHolocaust extremely violent cataclysm]], and than using these past hardships ([[SinsOfOurFathers that no Quarians alive at the time of the game were alive for]]) to justify [[FightingForAHomeland reclaiming their homeworld]] from its new inhabitants parallels the creation of [[SpaceJews Israel, Zionism]] and [[UsefulNotes/ArabIsraeliConflict the current issues those caused]].

--->'''Codex on spying on Geth space''': ''Theoretically, the geth could be preparing a devastating attack against which the Council could be defenseless, or the geth could have died out, so that the defense budget against them could be gaining the Alliance nothing but economic ruination.''

*** Interestingly, this is despite the fact that [[NGOSuperpower Cerberus]], with its methods of funding itself, political activities, cell based command structure, and the types of violence it engages in, is actually a very accurate depiction of how modern transnational terrorist groups, including Al Qaeda, operate[[note]]Well, aside from [[OrganizationWithUnlimitedFunding the bringing people back to life and building super-advanced warships part]][[/note]]. Cerberus is also portrayed as the only group with the ability to actually do anything about the problem of the Collectors. What this means is probably best left to the player to determine.

* ''VideoGame/RedFactionGuerrilla'': WideOpenSandbox game that uses its plot as an excuse for the player to be able to engage in guilt free destruction akin to the ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' series by the same developer? Or the most [[http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/09/24/wot-i-think-red-faction-guerrilla/ brutal indictment of the Iraq war in gaming history where you're essentially playing as the insurgents?]]

** David Obademi, a minor character in the ''Silver Lining'' DLC seems to be Insomniac's take on the USA's then-current immigration debate. He's a member of a minority group whose motives and loyalties are not immediately clear, and as it turns out he's in the country illegally. However, he is a perfectly good fellow who acts shady ''because'' he knows he would get in trouble if anyone found out about his status. In the end he is an altruistic fellow in a bad situation, and Spidey manages to find him a job in the US.

** A significant part of Waluigi's role as an EnsembleDarkhorse is based around Franck Ribery's tongue-in-cheek [[https://theemptypage.wordpress.com/2013/05/20/critical-perspectives-on-waluigi/ blog post]] "I, We, Waluigi: a Post-Modern Analysis of Waluigi", a parody of the Freudo-Marxist critical analysis associated with writers like Slavoj Žižek, which argues that Waluigi's role as an EvilCounterpart of a PaletteSwap makes him "a man seen only in mirror images" with no identity outside of references to what is around him, and that "in a world where our identities are shaped by our warped relationships to brands and commerce we are all Waluigi". While nobody takes this as anything other than a joke, it nevertheless led to Waluigi developing a semi-earnest, semi-ironic fandom amongst internet-philosophers and art dorks who hold up Waluigi as an icon of the Baudrillardian hollowness of late capitalism.

* Creator/{{Bethesda}}'s tweet about the then-upcoming ''VideoGame/WolfensteinIITheNewColossus'' earned a lot of backlash from right-wing groups, due to its phrasing. Special ire was drawn from the phrase "Make America Nazi Free Again," a play on UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump's "Make America Great Again" slogan. Unsurprisingly, the media made a point about [[https://www.forbes.com/sites/curtissilver/2017/10/10/wolfenstein-make-america-nazi-free-again/#1b54c4132554 how it showed the political atmosphere]] of the time. Bethesda themselves, for what it's worth, said they weren't trying to be political, but just promote their game about killing Nazis. That didn't stop people on the UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} forums for declaring the game some sort of propaganda - exactly which kind of propaganda, they don't seem to agree on.
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'': Some fans have taken the explanation of childbirth and the value of family in Chapter 5 to be indicative of a [[GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion pro-life]] stance. However, the context of the story paints a different picture, in that it's meant to display how humans normally function as opposed to the artificial aging process of Keves and Agnus, since this repeated cycle and the usage of ChildSoldiers in a ForeverWar makes the concept of family and childbirth foreign to them. Adding to this is that the game's messaging is opposed to many conservative viewpoints in general that are associated with pro-life arguments, such as the entire concept of the story being anti-war and opposing those who want things to remain unchanged.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': The FantasticRacism towards [[LittleBitBeastly Faunus]] veers into the degree of DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything for much of the fandom. Several of the major Faunus characters are POC-coded (Blake and Sun having Asian-inspired designs and Ilia being AmbiguouslyBrown), which adds onto this. Some fans also take Weiss' Volume 1 distrust of Faunus this way as Weiss has a German name.

* There was particular guy in the comments section of ''Webcomic/{{Terra}}'s'' early pages that saw leftist political metaphors all over the place in the comic. (For reference, the comic is about guerrillas fighting to put an end to a corrupt ForeverWar between two superpowers.) Author Holly Laing's response was surprised confusion.
* ''Webcomic/{{Terinu}}'' can be easily interpreted as an anti-colonialist story, given that Peta Hewett hails from [[LandDownUnder Down Under]] and has stated that the Varn genuinely ''believed'' that they were bringing "Civilization" to the Earth when they invaded in the backstory. Never mind the Ferin being viewed by every antagonist as a resource to be harvested and not a free thinking race in their own right.

** Carbon's obsession for being hard and his desire to '''[[{{Patricide}} end all fathers]]''' can be interpretated as an internal conflict between injunctions to become a real man and other injunctions to give up this spirit by destroying patriarchy.
** [[AIIsACrapshoot 1-TEC 20]] abusing his position as the Princess of Peaches' captor to make sexual advances to her may be a reminder of how powerful people abuse their status to profit of women who want to start in life. She accuses him of being "[[DirtyCop a cop who takes care of bastards]]" because of it, reminding why these scandals take time to be revealed.

** In Israel where the series was hugely popular, there is a persistent claim that Gargamel is an antisemitic Caricature, and that the smurfs on the other hand represent blue-blooded purity. (Not helped by Smurfette making an HeelFaceTurn by getting blond hair and a smaller nose.)

** It's about the evil Igthorn (who wears blue) trying to shut down an illegal brewery hidden in the forest. Igthorn's mooks are shown as dumb and ineffectual. The liquor Gummi Bears drink makes them crazily jump around. And they are friends to children, seeming like anarchistic, anti-government and pro-alcohol/drugs propaganda.
** The Gummie Bears are the remain of a VestigialEmpire in a medieval setting, reminiscent of the roman empire and the small groups of monks and intellectuals keeping the knowledge alive. With his conflict against a feodal king and use of their ancient technology and knowledge, Duke Igthorn can be seen as an up and coming machiavellian renaissance lord.

** Kathleen Richter of ''Ms. Magazine'' [[http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2010/12/09/my-little-homophobic-racist-smarts-shaming-pony/ caused quite a stir]] when she accused ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' of promoting an anti-feminist, anti-intellectual, homophobic, white-power viewpoint, largely due to a complete lack of fact checking (it's not clear in the article that [[CowboyBebopAtHisComputer she watched past the opening credits]]). The ensuing backlash quickly prompted ''Ms. Magazine'' to follow her article with [[http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2010/12/24/my-little-non-homophobic-non-racist-non-smart-shaming-pony-a-rebuttal/ a rebuttal]] by the show's creator, Creator/LaurenFaust.

** Overall, the goals of [[VisionaryVillain Amon]] (equality), [[TheFundamentalist Unalaq]] and [[GodOfEvil Vaatu]] (tradition and bringing back the spirits), [[WellIntentionedExtremist Zaheer]] (freedom) and [[TheBaroness Kuvira]] (order) are straight up allegories for the real world ideologies of communism, fundamentalism, anarchy (Zaheer himself stated to be one) and fascism. The fact that the show takes place in a 1920s style world where these four ideologies began to hold ground reinforces this notion. Furthermore, these villains are all known for their moral ambiguity and cases of TheExtremistWasRight, lampshading the moral complications of the ideologies themselves.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'':

* ''Webcomic/IWillSurvive'': Borba created the comic to show how a potential break-up between [[WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}} Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde]] could go down. However, since he chose an unwanted pregnancy as the impetus for said break-up, this has led to several readers (pro-life and pro-choice alike) debating over the controversial topic of abortion, even though the comic itself never tries to take a stance on it.

May overlap with WildMassGuessing. Compare to {{Dystopia}}n literature, WriterOnBoard, AuthorTract, and AuthorFilibuster, for cases where the author makes no secret about the political intent. Contrast with PropagandaPiece. See also FauxSymbolism and WhatDoYouMeanItsNotDidactic When ''characters'' are asking each other "What do you mean, it's not political?", that's AllIssuesArePoliticalIssues.

* Some have referred to ''Film/{{Ghostbusters 1984}}'' as [[http://washingtonexaminer.com/why-ghostbusters-is-the-most-libertarian-hollywood-blockbuster-of-all-time/article/2544522 "the most libertarian Hollywood blockbuster of all time"]], because of how every government official is either [[ObstructiveBureaucrat too abrasive]] and/or ineffectual to save the day. It could be argued, though, that this slant approaches Administrivia/PeopleSitOnChairs territory, since any action film featuring vigilante heroes is naturally going to portray the Establishment as incompetent and/or corrupt (and since the protagonists are running a business in New York, an overly-pushy regulative authority is the most logical choice for a human antagonist).
* ''Film/JupiterAscending'': A powerful political/capitalist entity holds countless lives as chattel so as to provide society with an essential resource. Attempts to synthesize this resource and forgo the expenditure of lives have failed for some vague reason. Are we talking about [[spoiler:Recode, the GreenRocks used to extend lifespan and engineer Splices, or petroleum, which powers every element of the world from personal vehicles to ocean and air transport, both of which require ruling producing territories without regard for the people who live there?]]

* ''Film/SorryToBotherYou'' was assumed by some to be a critique of American politics under Trump, however according to the writer and director Boots Riley, the screenplay was written in 2012 and it was intended to be a general criticism of capitalism not targeted at any particular president.
* In the chapter "Sort-Of Famous" in Creator/JohnWaters' [[{{Biography}} Autobiography]] ''Shock Value: A Tasteful Book About Bad Taste'', claimed that he got this very reaction from the audience at a Berlin Film Festival.

* ''Film/Ghostbusters2016'' was treated as this due to the fact that the cast was given a GenderFlip. The situation got worse when men's rights activists and some uncharitable fans of the franchise complained about it online. In liberal social media circles, voicing dislike for the film, even if it wasn't because of the Gender Flip for the cast, was seen as you admitting to being sexist and misogynistic. It got to the point where admitting to being a ''Ghostbusters'' fan (or a fan of anything in the franchise, for example ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'') was considered a political act in and of itself. After the film was released, however, the whole controversy vanished from the public sphere, and has since become a footnote in the franchise's history.

* With ''Film/DragMeToHell'' being centered around a loan officer being condemned to hell for foreclosing an old woman's home, many have interpeted it as a reaction to the the 2007 - 2009 financial crisis. However, director Creator/SamRaimi [[https://web.archive.org/web/20100102081824/http://screencrave.com/2009-05-27/sam-raimi-interview-for-drag-me-to-hell/ stated]] that the story was written years beforehand, and that he didn't pay too much attention to the crisis when making it.

** ''The Smurfs'' [[RedScare have been interpreted as a metaphor for Communism]].
** Socialist Men Under Red Father.

** The Scouring of the Shire, with it's rather un-Middle-Earth-like lists of rules and complaints about rationing has been interpreted as a TakeThat to the post-war Labour government of 1945.

* ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'' throws up some interesting ones by having the various nations and [=COs=] represent different countries, with many of the parallels focusing on World War II. It can get confusing, though: it's generally agreed that Green Earth represents Germany, but their [=COs=] represent all of Western Europe: Eagle is World War II Germany (superior air force and Lightning Strike being the English translation of "Blitzkrieg"), Drake is ''probably'' Britain (naval superiority and various parallels with Sir Francis Drake fighting off the Spanish Armada), Jess is ''probably'' Napoleonic France (superior land forces and resupply powers: compare Napoleon's "An army marches on its stomach" quote) and Javier is ''probably'' Spain (because he talks and acts rather like Literature/DonQuixote). Olaf is obviously General Winter as well as a Communist defector, Grit the very embodiment of Soviet artillery doctrine, and Colin and Sasha, amusingly, are either kulaks or the NEP. Kanbei embodies samurai honour, Sonja an amusing inversion of actual Japanese military security (which leaked like a sieve), Sensei the IJA's own special forces and Grimm's focus on all-out offensive reflects the closing days of Japanese desperation in both Ichi-Go and kamikaze.

* The [[http://gameoverthinker.blogspot.com/ Game Overthinker]] / [[IAmNotShazam Movie Bob]] satirized [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb8fw-81qHg The "political analysis]] of video games... [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN5fUsgC2-c Twice]]
* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'' has at least one essay devoted to it being an allegory for the dehumanization of criminals: [[http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/2011/10/social-satire-of-batman-arkham-city.html Social Satire Essay]]
* When ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'' was first announced, people immediately thought the xenophobic and imperialistic Founders were an allusion to the Tea Party, which Ken Levine denied. And given the events that have happened in the US since then, you can bet that when the game actually released, the Vox Populi was immediately dubbed an allusion to Occupy Wall Street despite the group not even ''existing'' when the game started being developed. [[https://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2010/09/11/columbia-a-city-divided.aspx Ken Levine actually took inspiration for the Vox from the West German Red Army Faction, among other historical groups,]] though he ''did'' go to an Occupy Wall Street rally to do research for the Vox. Of course, Levine also denied that ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'' was a criticism of Objectivism, so he may just be a master of [[AccidentalAesop accidentally making scathing attacks on political ideologies]].
* [[http://objectiveministries.org/zounds/gaming.html This game reviewer]] takes an EveryoneIsSatanInHell approach to gaming. One particularly hilarious review is of ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'', claiming it to be communist propaganda. When he reads about a study showing playing puzzle games like ''Tetris'' is good for the brain, he decries them as "Darwinist", "militant atheists", and admonishes the head of the study for not using scripture in the treatment of PTSD.
** Someone ran with the theory that ''Tetris'' was about life in the USSR and made a song called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWTFG3J1CP8 "A Complete History of the Soviet Union as Told by a Humble Worker, Arranged to the Melody of Tetris"]], which is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, but actually includes ''Tetris'' references.
* ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'': [[spoiler:It turns out in the third game that Imulsion, human society's main fuel source, was responsible for the entire conflict because it turned the locust into the [[OurZombiesAreDifferent lambent]], who forced the surviving locust to seek refuge on the surface, leading to the war with the humans. Even before any of that had come to light, humans had been engaged in unending wars over imulsion resources.]] Let me say that again. A rare and valuable fuel source (oil) is responsible for centuries of non-stop war, the destruction of society, and turning everyone into mindless zombies.

* ''[[VideoGame/{{Oddworld}} Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee]]'' and its sequel ''Abe's Exoddus'' show us how putting capitalism and profits over morality and humility destroys society. The Mudokons have been compared to communism (they live with each other and share the same possessions) and the Glukkons are obviously a play on gluttons as they are money hungry and have no problems torturing and even trying to kill and sell the Mudokons as food, all for profit's sake.
* Some who had played ''VideoGame/AceCombat5TheUnsungWar'' addressed the anti war posturing as commentary on UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush and the war in Iraq. The plot itself is actually based on the UsefulNotes/ColdWar [[spoiler:where insiders on both sides are instigating the war]] with the real message being that the characters are against war, but are willing to fight the ones who live on WarForFunAndProfit.
* One could make a pretty sound argument that many of the issues in the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' universe are based on [[RippedFromTheHeadlines current geopolitical issues]]. Just a few examples:
** Upon being discovered by the rest of the galaxy the Krogan were ruthlessly exploited by races far more technolgically developed than they were, and once they were no longer needed and became a problem, the development of their a civilization was neutered both [[DepopulationBomb physically]] and [[MedievalStasis societally]] to the point of being almost totally untenable. The historically minded will note the similarities to the European colonization of Africa and the post-decolonization issues that continue to be a problem today.
** The story of the Quarians losing their homeworld and much of their population in a [[InferredHolocaust extremely violent cataclysm]], and than using these past hardships ([[SinsOfOurFathers that no Quarians alive at the time of the game were alive for]]) to justify [[FightingForAHomeland reclaiming their homeworld]] from its new inhabitants parallels the creation of [[SpaceJews Israel, Zionism]] and [[UsefulNotes/ArabIsraeliConflict the current issues those caused]].
*** Note that the Quarians may also represent organizations such as Hamas, depending on how sympathetic the player considers either group to be.
*** The Quarians' decision to shut down the Geth (a series of robots they created) once they began to approach artificial intelligence plays very well into the abortion debate.
** American audience members in particular will notice the similarities between [[TheFederation the Alliance's]] reaction to the Geth and [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror the American government's reaction post-9/11]]. In the second game especially, this actually approaches the point of parody at some points and the game takes numerous digs at it, from the laughably inept and pointless citadel security to [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything thinly veiled]] codex entries.
--->'''Codex on spying on Geth space''': ''Theoretically, the geth could be preparing a devastating attack against which the Council could be defenseless, or the geth could have died out, so that the defense budget against them could be gaining the Alliance nothing but economic ruination.''
*** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', Legion's loyalty quest can be an allegory for dealing with religious fundamentalism. Legion reveals that the Geth from the first game were heretics who worship [[EldritchAbomination the Reapers]]. Shepard is then given the choice of either exterminating or reprogram the remnant heretics. Neither solution is ideal as can be the exterminating can be compared to genocide while reprogramming is comparable to brainwashing or forced conversion.
*** Interestingly, this is despite the fact that [[NGOSuperpower Cerberus]], with its methods of funding itself, political activities, cell based command structure, and the types of violence it engages in, is actually a very accurate depiction of how modern transnational terrorist groups, including Al Qaeda, operate[[note]]Well, aside from [[OrganizationWithUnlimitedFunding the bringing people back to life and building super-advanced warships part]][[/note]]. Cerberus is also portrayed as the only group with the ability to actually do anything about the problem of the Collectors. What this means is probably best left to the player to determine.

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedUnity'': It is really, really, hard for a game about the French Revolution to escape this. Especially for a Franchise that has formerly prized itself for historical research and an even handed look at the American Revolution.
** The reaction and charges of "propaganda" and the great number of errors in representation has brought a great deal of criticism as well. Jean-Clement Martin, the historian who has served as a consultant for the game, and a respected member of the Society of Robespierre Studies, while noting that the script had a "royalist" bias feels that the game should be enjoyed as "fantasy" and perhaps if it stokes interest, it could lead players to read history books.
---> ''[[TheRevolutionWillNotBeVilified "The Revolution broke royal power, and rather than deterring populist politics, it encouraged them. If anything]], [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/criticalintel/12676-The-Good-and-Bad-of-Assassin-s-Creed-Unity.3 the game's apparent stance that the Revolution was an Entirely Bad Thing seems nearsighted and one-dimensional."]]''
** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r47yZIYBUzc author/historian David Andress]] who wrote "The Terror" also discussed the historical depiction and he noted that the game was largely counter-revolutionary. More generally, while admiring the largely accurate (if streamlined) reproduction of Paris, he dismisses its portrayal as largely cliche and noted that the Templar conspiracy theory instigating the Revolution was a famous right-wing myth that refuses to give credit to the popular movement and pay real attention to its GrayAndGreyMorality.
* ''VideoGame/FreshlyPickedTinglesRosyRupeeland'' has been interpreted as having an anti-capitalist message. Throughout the game, Tingle's progress, friendships, and even life are completely dependant on rupees. The goal of the game is to collect enough rupees to ascend to a materialistic utopia, [[spoiler:which turns out to be a lie that Uncle Rupee only made up so that Tingle would continue to give him money]]. By the end, Uncle Rupee has enough money to ascend into a godlike state [[spoiler:and turn everyone into his slaves. He can only be defeated by Tingle blasting him to death with rupees, which destroy him and causes rupees to rain down from the sky across the town.]]
* Creator/{{Bethesda}}'s tweet about the then-upcoming ''VideoGame/WolfensteinIITheNewColossus'' earned a lot of backlash from right-wing groups, due to its phrasing. Special ire was drawn from the phrase "Make America Nazi Free Again," a play on UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump's "Make America Great Again" slogan. Unsurprisingly, the media made a point about [[https://www.forbes.com/sites/curtissilver/2017/10/10/wolfenstein-make-america-nazi-free-again/#1b54c4132554 how it showed the political atmosphere]] of the time. Bethesda themselves, for what it's worth, said they weren't trying to be political, but just promote their game about killing Nazis. That didn't stop people on the UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} forums for declaring the game some sort of propaganda - exactly which kind of propaganda, they don't seem to agree on.
* ''VideoGame/GrooveCoaster'' has the song "No more labor", the [[https://www.wikihouse.com/groove/index.php?No%20more%20labor#wc9fe43d lyrics]] of which involve a hypothetical scenario where someone becomes king of the world and builds a machine to do all the world's labor, thus eliminating the need for people to suffer through work ("The concept of working / is the cause of suffering"). Given that the song and the game it was made for are of Japanese origin, one can't help but wonder if the song was written in response to Japan's infamous over-work culture[[note]]there's enough cases of people ''literally dying'' from overwork that there's a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karoshi term]] for it[[/note]].
* ''VideoGame/WatchDogsLegion'' takes place in a United Kingdom that's turned into a surveillance state policed by brutal mercenaries and armed drones, with nationalism and terrorism being two of the factors responsible for its woes. The resulting economic downturn has caused a popular rebellion to begin rising up in order to return the country back to the good old days. The game was only officially announced on June 10 but already people are making comparisons to the game's setting being what will become of the country if Brexit is allowed to go through, and if its advocates are able to seize power.
* ''VideoGame/{{Rage 2}}'', in its pre-release period, spawned a minor meme over an interview between gaming website [=TheSixthAxis=] and Creator/IdSoftware's Tim Willits, where TSA noted some physical similarity between the in-game character Klegg Clayton and UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump, and then outright ignored Willits several times when he insisted the character was not directly based on Trump and they were ''not'' trying to be political with the game.

* The setting of ''VideoGame/{{LISA}}: The Painful'' and its followup ''Joyful'' is one where [[{{Gendercide}} all women have been wiped out from a mysterious white flash]] and the remaining men have thrown the world into a violent wasteland. This has been interpreted as either a feminist or anti-feminist message, but WordOfGod is that [[https://www.hardcoregamer.com/2013/12/17/we-talk-to-the-creator-of-lisa-the-ridiculously-crazy-rpg/65905/ it's simply how the setting is, and he did not intend to make any sort of statement on sexes with it.]]

* ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'': With the [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl future of Hisui]] and the effects of the actual Japanese colonization of Hokkaido in mind, it's actually very easy to read an anti-colonial subtext in the game. Hisui is presented as a harsh yet beautiful land with an indigenous population[[note]]Although despite being indigenous-coded, the Diamond and Pearl Clans were ''not'' the original inhabitants of Sinnoh, that being the Celestica people, the ancestors of Cogita and Volo.[[/note]] with a close connection to nature and the Noble Pokémon, which themselves are the direct descendants of the Pokémon companions of a legendary hero who managed to meet Arceus itself. By the time of the Sinnoh games however, the vast Hisuian wilderness has been largely tamed and developed, and most poignant of all, the regional variants and evolutions that the Noble Pokémon belonged to, as well as the Noble Pokémon themselves, are nowhere to be seen and possibly extinct. This can easily be read as commentary about how the colonization and development of Hisui into Sinnoh led to the extinction of multiple Pokémon species and severed the region of its living connections to the great myths of old. However, this is likely unintentional, given how little focus is given to the long-term effects of colonization and the game's neutrality towards its ethics.

** Allah Gold openly advocates "less freedom with more wars," which could be taken as commentaries on the Patriot Act and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Elsewhere, references to the Republic and its supporters are transformed into mentions of [[UsefulNotes/AmericanPoliticalSystem Republicans]]. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Also, the main villain now has an American accent rather than a British one.]]

-->'''Vanquish Is''': We must ruin the West!

** It doesn't help that ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' starts to drift into WeAllLiveInAmerica territory toward the end, when Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi speak of "a special session of Congress." In-universe, the legislature is usually called the "Galactic Senate", "senate" being a more-or-less universal term while "congress" (''especially'' with a capital letter -- again going back to AncientRome) is more an Americanism.

* The Visitors in ''Series/{{V 2009}}'' have been interpreted as symbolizing UsefulNotes/BarackObama. This isn't helped by the fact that the show's plot (the alien Visitors, who receive the devotion of the people, are secretly plotting to destroy the world) bears a lot of similarities to various right-wing fears about Obama -- compare the Visitors' alien nature to the [[UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheories "birther" conspiracy]]. Doesn't really help when the aliens provide "Universal Healthcare", and call it spreading hope... The writers have denied this, and claimed that the show is more about post-9/11 America than the current President.

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r47yZIYBUzc author/historian David Andress]] who wrote "The Terror" also discussed the historical depiction and he noted that the game was largely counter-revolutionary. More generally, while admiring the largely accurate (if streamlined) reproduction of Paris, he dismisses its portrayal as largely cliche and noted that the Templar UsefulNotes/ConspiracyTheory instigating the Revolution was a famous right-wing myth that refuses to give credit to the popular movement and pay real attention to its GrayAndGreyMorality.