| 1 | [[quoteright:350:[[Magazine/{{Mad}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bush_gulfwars2.jpg]]]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:350:[[Film/AttackOfTheClones It involves a leader, a Senate, and a war in the desert.]] Clearly a modern allegory.]] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ->''"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."'' |
| 5 | -->-- '''Creator/BenCroshaw''', [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/extra-punctuation/10900-Of-Dragons-Ruined-Cities "Of Dragons and Ruined Cities"]] |
| 6 | |
| 7 | When works are interpreted as being allegories for political issues (most often ones of war) at the time of the writing, with no [[WordOfGod prompting from the author]]. Sometimes, this is applied as {{retcon}}, with works written decades before the event being interpreted as allegories for it. (This may be a result of OlderThanTheyThink.) Such interpretations may be instances of HistoryRepeats, HilariousInHindsight, and HarsherInHindsight. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | Even still many people think that somehow everything has to be inspired by what is [[OlderThanTheyThink most recent]] and that the author is targeting SmallReferencePools -- and furthermore that the writer wrote the work shortly before publication, when in fact it normally takes a year to get from completed manuscript to on the shelves even if the writer had no difficulty selling it, and the work may have taken ''years'' to write. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | Even the most innocent or neutral subject matter can take on political (or sociopolitical) connotations due to the associations people tend to make in the wider scheme of things. The following are seemingly apolitical topics that may be interpreted as political due to the "culture wars" of recent decades. |
| 12 | * Anything involving queer sexuality/identity, and whether it's depicted positively or negatively [[note]] Note that this doesn't even have to be about sex per se, and can apply to any analysis of "manly" or "girly" characters and behaviors. [[/note]] |
| 13 | * Anything involving the evolution of life on Earth [[FantasyCounterpartCulture (or on other worlds, for that matter)]], and whether that's meant to be taken seriously |
| 14 | * Anything involving abortion, and whether or not it's considered murder if someone terminates a pregnancy |
| 15 | * Anything about killing animals, and whether that's okay |
| 16 | * Any depiction of a culture that's more than a little different from the culture producing the work, and whether that culture is "superior" or "inferior" |
| 17 | * Any out-of-universe RaceLift, at least if one of the two races is the majority race within the culture that produced the work |
| 18 | * Any out-of-universe GenderFlip, and whether it was done as a statement for one side of the gender argument or the other. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | 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 [[MediaNotes/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]]. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | Relatedly, many critics hold a belief that every work is political, regardless of what the author intended; for instance, critics may feel that an author has particular moral or social obligations to challenge the "status quo" (or whatever the critic ''believes'' is the status quo). A related school of thought holds that, since the author is someone with opinions who exists in a political context, those opinions and context must necessarily shape their work in various ways with varying degrees of subtlety and self-awareness. An attempt to be apolitical is a kind of political statement unto itself (specifically, of [[NeutralityBacklash supporting the status quo]]) and that’s if one is lucky. If one is unlucky, this belief will be used to claim that apolitical works are, by definition, not TrueArt. We used to have a trope for this (“True Art Sticks It to the Man”), but it was sent to the Administrivia/PermanentRedLinkClub because it necessarily broke the Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | May overlap with WildMassGuessing or {{Applicability}}. 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. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | ---- |
| 27 | !!Examples: |
| 28 | |
| 29 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 30 | |
| 31 | [[folder:Advertising]] |
| 32 | * The Japanese UsefulNotes/McDonalds made an anime ad showing a family happily eating [=McDonald=]'s together. Many people jumped to the conclusion that it was encouraging people to have children and start families in order to raise Japan's declining birth rate, a cause that the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe strongly advocated for. |
| 33 | * Twix's famous "Left Twix vs. Right Twix" ad campaign is frequently interpreted as being a satire of political polarization in America (the left and the right), especially the divide between left-wing Democrats and right-wing Republicans, by saying that they're not so different from each other, as the whole joke of the campaign is that Left Twix and Right Twix are exactly the same and the rivalry between them started from an incredibly petty feud that their founders had hundreds of years ago. The fact that the ad campaign began airing during the 2012 presidential election added to the interpretations. However, it seems just to be a quirky ad campaign that was made without any intended political commentary. |
| 34 | [[/folder]] |
| 35 | |
| 36 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 37 | * 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 pushing environmental agendas along with ''WesternAnimation/TheLorax2012''. |
| 38 | * Shortly after its release, many began suspecting that ''Anime/CodeGeass'''s Britannian Empire and its resource-grubbing expansionism were 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. |
| 39 | * ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'' gives the VillainBall to the United States of America in the 2nd season... or more specifically, the ''[[TheEmpire American Empire]]'', one of [[DividedStatesOfAmerica the three divided American countries]] who places a high priority on military industrialism and right-wing conservatism. The anime doesn't clearly state that the United States of America is a different country from the American Empire, which may lead viewers into thinking that the United States in general is the villain. The truth is that Creator/ShirowMasamune divided the United States into 3 different countries (The United States of America, The Ameri-Soviet Union, and Imperial Americana) as part of the continuity that ''Manga/{{Appleseed}}'' and ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell'' both take place in back when he wrote both series in the mid-'80s and early '90s. There were no intentional implications, but it still makes the whole thing HarsherInHindsight when compared to some of UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush's foreign policies during his administration. |
| 40 | ** The villains in the two series are, respectively, [[spoiler:a corrupt politician trying to make a profit in the healthcare industry and a right-wing agent trying to instigate a war for personal gain]], while the two main AntiVillain-turned-AntiHero[=es=] are [[spoiler:an anarchist hacker and a socialist revolutionary]]. It's not particularly hard to see the show's political slant. |
| 41 | ** The American Empire in the series has a defense treaty with Japan which means Japan "technically" cannot have an army, just like present-day America and Japan. In the series, the American Empire is also portrayed as an openly imperialist power, invading countries like Mexico. Since many leftists (e.g. Che Guevara, Malcolm X) regard America as an evil imperialist empire and considering how the series gives the socialist revolutionary and anarchist hacker quite the sympathetic portrayal... |
| 42 | * ''Manga/LiarGame'': In-Universe example; the Liar Game itself. [[spoiler:The 'original' Liar Game was an unfinished trilogy about a random bunch of prisoners forced to play games against one another, gambling their prison sentences and their lives. The author was trying to explain the nature of the authoritarian country he lived in and how to overcome it, but the author was quietly assassinated before he could publish the last book. In his honor and to restore the message, a friend of the author commissioned a movie based on the trilogy, but then he was assassinated, and the director was bribed to forget the whole thing. Decades later, the director decided to re-create the Liar Game as an EnforcedMethodActing documentary. Which is then censored off []-tube. The final work was produced decades after its source material was widely forgotten, is widely divorced from the source content, and no longer points at whatever country the book trilogy was meant to criticize in the first place, yet the government(s?) involved are still so thoroughly paranoid that they'll continue to throw censorship, bribes, and assassinations at it. An example of an in-universe work that was washed of its direct politicization was then used out-of-universe to criticize general tyrannies' inability to let old wounds go.]] |
| 43 | * Comparisons between the Ishvalans from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' and UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror are a dime a dozen, though WordOfGod is that they're based on the indigenous Ainu people of Japan, not Muslims. The [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003 2003 anime]], thanks to its director having an obsession with being topical, makes the parallels with the Ishvalans and the people of Lior with Muslims far more overt, especially since the people of Lior are {{Race Lift}}ed from being light-skinned people living in a mountainous Amestrian town to a different, darker-skinned ethnic group who live in a desert town. |
| 44 | * ''Manga/MajinTanteiNougamiNeuro'': Twice over the HAL arc, the danger of untrained civilians possessing firearms is brought up. |
| 45 | ** The first time is actually a plot point. The Hayasaka brothers, a pair of yakuzas that were antagonists early in the manga, contact Goda to talk about something that might aid him in the investigation. Using a spice shop as a front, they're running a smuggling operation and one of the "goods" they delivered were crates full of handguns and other fire guns. What compelled them to act was that the cargo was delivered to what seemed to be ordinary college students. If they were your average criminal gun-and-runners, it wouldn't have been any issue, but civilians are a completely different thing. They flat-out stated that if that amount of guns were to land in the hands of normal people, it would be "the end of civilization as [they] know it." |
| 46 | ** Later, the police force is distraught over all the armed population brainwashed by HAL to act as his army. The Chief in particular is seething over the fact that the police is having to be heavily armed to fight the masses, claiming that if this continues, they are going to end like those countries where cops armed with assault rifles are a common sight, illustrated by what seems to be [[EagleLand American cops in full military gear apprehending robbers in New York]]. |
| 47 | [[/folder]] |
| 48 | |
| 49 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 50 | * Creator/MarkMillar continues to insist that any political allegory in ''ComicBook/CivilWar2006'', a plot in which superheroes who didn't want to register with the government were rounded up and shipped off to what's come to be called "Space Guantanamo" by both fans and the ''Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics'', was completely accidental. |
| 51 | * ''Comicbook/XMen'': Mutants are a class of people who are oppressed for being born different and struggle to fit into mainstream society, often by hiding what they are. For decades, many readers took this as a metaphor for various minority populations, particularly the LGBT community. While mutants are certainly ripe with applicability, Stan Lee admitted that he invented the concept of mutants simply as a short-cut so that he didn't need to think up dozens of origin stories for each hero. It was only by the time of Creator/ChrisClaremont's issues that the comic started to lean in on the metaphorical possibilities. |
| 52 | * ''[[ComicBook/TheSmurfs Smurf versus Smurf]]'', where the Smurf village is divided into 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. |
| 53 | * The superhero ComicBook/BlackPanther was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1966, almost at the same time of the creation of the Black Panthers party. But Lee and Kirby were first. Marvel even attempted for a short time to rename the character to "Black Leopard", to avoid the misunderstanding, but returned soon to the original: they created it first, why should they give it up? |
| 54 | * Comicbook/TheAvengers had a BatFamilyCrossover named ComicBook/OperationGalacticStorm. The only similarity with the Gulf War ("Operation Desert Storm") is the name, and that's it: the actual plot has no relation at all. |
| 55 | * ''ComicBook/{{Iznogoud}}'': Despite [[TheNapoleon physical]] and [[TheStarscream psychological]] similarities, Iznogoud was ''not'' inspired by French president Nicolas Sarkozy.[[note]] It would be more remarkable if he were; Nicolas Sarkozy was ''seven years old'' when the first Iznogoud stories were published.[[/note]] (He did, however, meet Jacques Chirac at one point.) Which in no way prevented photoshops of Sarkozy dressed as Iznogoud from appearing on the Internet shortly after his election, mostly with captions on the subject of "Well, he finally succeeded." There was also a Google bombing mixing Sarkozy and Iznogoud. Moreover, an ''Iznogoud'' book written after Tabary's death in 2011 made extensive use of the similarity, and Sarkozy also won the 1999 Iznogoud Award, which is presented to the person who made the year's most high-profile failure. |
| 56 | * ''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." |
| 57 | * ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'': ''Asterix'' has also been interpreted by xenophobes and racists as propaganda for an all-white, all-French, rural, traditionalist France that keeps foreign invaders out of the country. This claim is not in line with the creators. The series' writer Creator/ReneGoscinny was Jewish and survived World War Two -- he knows firsthand what it feels like to be persecuted. |
| 58 | [[/folder]] |
| 59 | |
| 60 | [[folder:Eastern Animation]] |
| 61 | * The abstract '60s Hungarian short ''Animation/TheKidnappingOfTheSunAndTheMoon'' received accusations that it was anti-Chinese when screened at the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, with certain viewers thinking the evil dragon that eats the Sun and Moon represented China. In reality, it's about "good vs evil" in general, and the dragon bears no resemblance to a traditional eastern dragon. |
| 62 | * It's been suggested that 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. |
| 63 | [[/folder]] |
| 64 | |
| 65 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 66 | * ''Manga/Evangelion303'': [[MisaimedFandom A seriously misguided reader]] accused Grummancat of blaming all USA gaffes and mistakes on an evil secret organization. Grummancat retorted that his story never implied such nonsense. |
| 67 | * ''Fanfic/TheParselmouthOfGryffindor'' is a light-hearted, generally friendly ''Harry Potter'' epic. The 2018 United States of America being the 2018 United States of America, at least one reviewer took it for granted that the story's comically-incompetent Minister Fudge was a parody of Donald Trump — though no such parallels were intended. |
| 68 | * ''Webcomic/IWillSurvive'': Borba created the comic to show how a potential break-up between a OneTruePairing like [[WesternAnimation/{{Zootopia}} Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde]] would play out. 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 tries its best not to take a stance on it. |
| 69 | [[/folder]] |
| 70 | |
| 71 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 72 | * [[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.[[note]]Also note that the self-made tech millionaire in the film is the '''villain''', whereas he's exactly the kind of character Rand would have utterly idealised[[/note]] |
| 73 | * From ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlWZZSD4irM Hopper's speech about "keeping those ants in line"]] has been interpreted as a metaphor for everything from the distribution of wealth to the alleged "[[ConspiracyTheorist New World Order]]." |
| 74 | * ''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. |
| 75 | -->'''Remy's father:''' This is the way things are. You can't change nature.\ |
| 76 | '''Remy:''' Change ''is'' nature, Dad. The part that we can influence. And it all starts when we decide...\ |
| 77 | '''Remy's father:''' Where are you going?\ |
| 78 | '''Remy:''' With luck... forward. |
| 79 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'' includes a scene modeled on ''Film/TriumphOfTheWill'' where Scar and his hyena henchmen are [[PuttingOnTheReich equated with Nazis]]. This didn't go over well with [[https://books.google.com/books?id=IY575wkO03kC&pg=PA315&lpg=PA315&dq=%22die+zeit%22+%22the+lion+king%22&source=bl&ots=42LLZug-yr&sig=99x2GFy_ewlJK91SHIujLlTf39Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCwQ6AEwA2oVChMIqKSO28bhyAIVSXI-Ch27zAAB#v=onepage&q=%22die%20zeit%22%20%22the%20lion%20king%22&f=false some German critics]], with ''Die Zeit'' actually accusing the film of endorsing fascism (which is completely missing the point, since Scar and his hyenas are the ''villains'', so them being compared to ThoseWackyNazis is clearly not a pro-fascism statement). |
| 80 | ** Others argue that it supports a fascist/social darwinist ideology because the story upholds a world in which every animal has a "proper place" in the hierarchy of society, which is biologically determined by their species. |
| 81 | * 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 that 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. |
| 82 | [[/folder]] |
| 83 | |
| 84 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 85 | * ''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. |
| 86 | ** The process by which Darth Sidious takes control of the Galactic Republic in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' prequel trilogy has been interpreted by some as a metaphor for the perceived centralization of power in the [[UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush Bush administration]] -- a claim George Lucas denies, and which is pretty blatantly not the case, seeing as the principal details of the story were sketched out in the mid-'70s, and summarized in the foreword to the {{novelization}} of ''Film/ANewHope''. |
| 87 | ** Another way to read it is as a deliberate parallel to the Nazi party: everything from Palpatine being chancellor before assuming absolute power, to the name "stormtroopers" (the meaning of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturmabteilung Sturmabteilung]], Hitler's SA). Given Imperial Officers were wearing [[PuttingOnTheReich copies of actual Nazi uniforms]], it was probably intentional. Interestingly, this same idea could have been played with a different historical parallel: Augustus replacing a corrupt Roman Senate with himself, as (arguably) the right thing to do, at least in the short run. |
| 88 | ** Creator/GeorgeLucas has gone on in interviews to point out that much of the reason that the prequels, first thought up in the 1970s, seem so contemporary is that the contemporary political situation ''itself'' happens to uncannily mirror the 1970s. In both cases, there's an unpopular overseas conflict going on that has America being accused of empire-building by the rest of the world, while the Republican president's being criticized for overstepping his authority and trying to consolidate power away from the legislature with the rationale that desperate times call for desperate measures. It's not so much that the prequels were written about Bush, it's that they were written during the Nixon and Vietnam days -- and then UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror came along and [[HereWeGoAgain recreated that situation]] just a few years after ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' was released. Sort of a LifeImitatesArt [[HistoryRepeats Imitating]] [[RippedFromTheHeadlines Earlier Real Life]]. |
| 89 | ** And both situations mirror the founding of UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire, and other historical situations too numerous to mention. RealLife is using a RecycledScript. |
| 90 | --->'''George Santayana:''' Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. |
| 91 | ** Not just UsefulNotes/TheRomanEmpire and UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}}, but also UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte, who, like Palpatine, openly abolished the republic and made it an empire in name as well as fact with himself as emperor. Napoleon was inspired by Imperial Rome (with Eagles carried by his troops), while Hitler had them later as well. |
| 92 | ** 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. |
| 93 | ** The animated spin-off series ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' had more political themes, such as war-profiteering senators like [[MeaningfulName Halle Burtoni]][[labelnote:note]]A reference to the oil company Halliburton, which received multi-billion dollar contracts associated with the Iraq War[[/labelnote]] and an entire episode centered on a vote to deregulate the banks to fund the war effort. |
| 94 | * ''Film/InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers1956'' is a famous example. Produced at the height of the 1950s anti-Communist paranoia, the movie has often been taken as 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. |
| 95 | * ''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 attackers or as a vast and diverse empire underestimating a zealous 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. |
| 96 | * ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'': |
| 97 | ** Some interpret the sonar cell phone subplot in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' as an allegory for modern-day safety measures by the former Bush administration. |
| 98 | ** While not as overt as TDK's themes of eavesdropping and extraordinary rendition, the speech in ''Film/BatmanBegins'' about how Gotham is beyond saving seems to be a metaphor for similar attitudes towards the Middle East. It doesn't exactly help that the character is, at that point, [[spoiler:referred to as "Ra's al Ghul" (meaning "head of the demon" in Arabic -- and the original character is vaguely Middle Eastern) and talking about a city that is presumably located in the Western world. Talk about turning the tables.]] |
| 99 | --->"''Gotham's time has come. Like Constantinople, or Rome before it, the city has become a breeding ground for suffering and injustice. It is beyond saving and must be allowed to die.''" |
| 100 | ** ''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 both of them like. |
| 101 | ** The plot points about Bane pitting Gotham's lower classes against the well-off and those in power has been interpreted as being in reference to the Occupy Wall Street movement, though whether the film is meant to be either for or against OWS or free-market capitalism differs wildly depending on who you ask. |
| 102 | * ''Film/BatmanReturns'' (1992) was another ''Batman'' film that ran afoul of controversy, though it was presented to the public as just an escapist fantasy. |
| 103 | ** The plot features a recall election in Gotham City as a major plot point and released close to election season in America, so many critics and pundits couldn't help seeing the movie as a commentary on all that. Director Creator/TimBurton admitted in an interview that the Penguin was supposed to be an amalgamation of all the current political candidates. |
| 104 | ** It also began shooting just a few months after the Persian Gulf War ended, making a climactic plot to destroy the city with remote-controlled missiles and the line "The liberation of Gotham has begun!" (a play on a Pentagon official's remark that "The liberation of Kuwait has begun" as Operation Desert Storm was launched) sound quite suspicious indeed. |
| 105 | ** Then there is the Penguin's declaration of "Burn, baby - burn!" which was a quote popularly attributed to rioting blacks in 1965 Los Angeles. The film premiered a month after the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles. |
| 106 | ** Accusations surfaced that the Penguin's hooked nose was meant to make him look Jewish, purportedly turning him into a [[GreedyJew Jewish caricature]]. |
| 107 | * Anthony Lane at the New Yorker has a strange talent for looking at action movies and seeing endorsements for fascism. Take a look at his reviews for [[http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2008/05/12/080512crci_cinema_lane Speed Racer]] and [[http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2009/03/09/090309crci_cinema_lane?printable=true Watchmen.]] |
| 108 | * Pauline Kael called ''[[Film/StrawDogs1971 Straw Dogs]]'' "the first American film that is a fascist work of art". Interestingly, it [[MisaimedFandom wasn't really a negative review]]; Kael just ''really'' likes to throw around the word "fascism" a lot. |
| 109 | * With ''Film/DragMeToHell'' being centered around a loan officer being condemned to hell for foreclosing an old woman's home, many have interpreted it as a reaction to 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. |
| 110 | * 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 to destructive extremes, and are in no way portrayed as heroic. |
| 111 | * 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). |
| 112 | * ''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. |
| 113 | * Some critics have claimed that Showa ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' movies are Japanese nationalist propaganda revolving around WWII, though Ishiro Honda's pet themes were ''anti''-nationalism and [[EnemyMine unification of enemies against greater threats]]. Other critics have claimed that the nuclear explosion that created Godzilla was a metaphor for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with the monster representing America. Godzilla was changed into a good guy in later films after relations between the two nations had markedly improved. |
| 114 | * ''Film/{{Godzilla 2014}}'': |
| 115 | ** ''The Examiner'' [[http://www.examiner.com/article/over-sized-godzilla-a-symbol-of-american-consumer-greed wrote a piece]] speculating that the reason Godzilla seems fatter in this movie is for him to be a critique of the excesses of American greed and consumerism. |
| 116 | ** Whereas in Japan, the monster was criticized for having been slimmed down for American audiences. |
| 117 | ** William Tsutsui, [[http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/141472/william-m-tsutsui/for-godzilla-and-country author of ''Godzilla on My Mind'',]] suggests this film as being the turning of Godzilla into an American icon with the cheering he gets along with the MUTO love scene and violence being more overt than the Japanese films. |
| 118 | * ''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?]] |
| 119 | * Clips from ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}'' posted on Website/YouTube tend to invite comments declaring that President Skroob is obviously Bush. They don't let the fact that the film was released thirteen years before Bush (and one year before his old man) was elected get in the way. Anyway, it's obvious based on his appearance that Skroob is based at least in part on UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler (and, of course, on Emperor Palpatine, the BigBad of ''Franchise/StarWars'', which ''Spaceballs'' spoofs). |
| 120 | * ''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. |
| 121 | * Some have interpreted ''Film/InglouriousBasterds'' as an anti-American attack on torture and interrogation methods. Others consider it to be promoting war crimes. The film is morally ambiguous enough that it's hard to agree whether the Basterds were supposed to be heroes or not. |
| 122 | * ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers'' |
| 123 | ** 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]]. |
| 124 | ** Some critics claimed it was a pro-Iraq War/Bush-supported propaganda piece. This is a little odd since the original source was written by a British author several decades ago and the movie was directed, written, and co-financed by a New Zealander. Oh, and the films were shot back-to-back and were going into production by the time Bush came into office. |
| 125 | * One of the reasons reviewer Armond White is a [[TheScrappy controversial figure]] (besides [[ComplainingAboutPeopleNotLikingTheShow being a contrarian]]) is because he always does a sociopolitical analysis of a film while doing his review. |
| 126 | * Andrew O'Hehir's [[http://www.salon.com/entertainment/movies/andrew_ohehir/2010/10/06/secretariat review]] of ''Secretariat'' was based around the premise that a feel-good Disney movie about a legendary racehorse was actually a "Tea Party-flavored, Christian-friendly yarn" which he even likened to [[GodwinsLaw Leni Riefenstahl's propaganda films]]. After massive backlash led by the unquestionably liberal Creator/RogerEbert, O'Hehir backtracked and [[ParodyRetcon claimed that the review was tongue-in-cheek]] and [[RefugeInAudacity deliberately over-the-top]]. |
| 127 | * ''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. The aliens are stereotyped as villains in propaganda. Creator/GarethEdwards denied that the aliens were metaphors for Mexican immigration to the U.S., 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. |
| 128 | * ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968'' was filmed right around the time of the Civil Rights Movement, about the breakdown of societal norms, where the OnlySaneMan is an intelligent and pragmatic black man, who [[spoiler:outlives his companions only to be killed by the police.]] However, Creator/GeorgeARomero maintained that it was pure coincidence and Duane Jones had simply given the best audition. |
| 129 | * Magda Goebbels stalked out of the premiere of ''Die Reise nach Tilsit''. It was about a foreign woman seducing the husband of a virtuous German wife under her eyes -- while Joseph Goebbels carried on with the Czech actress Lida Baarova (the German wife won in the end, in both cases; Hitler sent the actress back to her native country and told Goebbels there would be no divorce). |
| 130 | * ''Film/BattleLosAngeles'' has a scene that could be seen as commentary on "enhanced interrogation" techniques in the war on terror: The soldiers have captured a wounded alien soldier, and they cut it apart (while still living), trying to find the vital organs so they can know where to aim to kill aliens. There is no dialogue condemning or justifying this act (although the information they find does put them on even footing in the battle). |
| 131 | * Some even call ''Franchise/TheMuppets'' political. Many people on 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). |
| 132 | * 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]]. While in China, the film was likely interpreted as having a generic "sacrifice for the greater good" message, in large parts of the west (and Taiwan), it was seen as overt Chinese political propaganda to legitimize the government in defiance of its messy history of imperialism and human rights abuses. |
| 133 | * ''Franchise/PlanetOfTheApes'': |
| 134 | ** Ever since ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes1968'' hit theaters in 1968, people of all political tendencies have interpreted the franchise as a metaphor for black people rising and taking over white people. The movies' antinuclear, pacifist message is far more evident. |
| 135 | ** It's probably more deliberate in the sequels. For one, director J. Lee Thompson admitted 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. |
| 136 | ** With lines like Ceaser's "Where there is fire, there is smoke. And in that smoke, from this day forward, my people will crouch and conspire and plot and plan for the inevitable day of Man's downfall - the day when he finally and self-destructively turns his weapons against his own kind. The day of the writing in the sky, when your cities lie buried under radioactive rubble! When the sea is a dead sea, and the land is a wasteland out of which I will lead my people from their captivity! And we will build our own cities in which there will be no place for humans except to serve our ends! And we shall found our own armies, our own religion, our own dynasty! And that day is upon you... now!" how can it be anything but? |
| 137 | * Critics and viewers interpret ''Film/{{Patton}}'' as everything from a straightforward, patriotic war movie to a satiric condemnation of militarism. Critics regularly made comparisons to the then-ongoing UsefulNotes/VietnamWar, analogies reinforced by UsefulNotes/RichardNixon's alleged obsession with the movie. Since the filmmakers wanted a warts-and-all biopic of George Patton, whose historical reputation remains controversial, some of this was likely by design. |
| 138 | * ''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 superhero. 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." |
| 139 | * The plot of ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' involves ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} creating a trio of computer-controlled Helicarriers in order to more efficiently protect and police the world, only for them to end up hijacked by HYDRA and turned against a civilian population. Many critics read this as commentary on the controversial use of drone technology in UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror, even though the directors have denied this. |
| 140 | * ''Film/{{Predator}}'' has been noted as an allegory for the Vietnam War — an unseen enemy who is well versed in camouflage, defeating a "superior" American force. (The Predator's technological advantage notwithstanding.) However, since the Predator is an alien from outer space, [[AnalogyBackfire the argument can easily be flipped]]: a foreign invader, believing itself superior, comes to our planet and persecutes Earthlings, only to be slain by one of those "inferior" humans who relies on his innate cleverness. |
| 141 | * 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 ongoing refugee crisis in Europe, it could be argued the film draws a parallel with its discussion of exploitation and dehumanization. |
| 142 | * ''{{Literature/Riverworld}}'': In the films Matt Ellman is tortured with a simulation similar to waterboarding. |
| 143 | * ''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 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. |
| 144 | * ''Film/{{RRR}}'': While the film has a very overt nationalist message, it's been linked with a growing right-wing movement within India that might not have been specifically intended. |
| 145 | * ''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. |
| 146 | * 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. |
| 147 | * ''Film/TommyBoy'': This is supposedly a silly buddy comedy starring Chris Farley and David Spade...that explores the severe issues of deindustrialization and corporate downsizing. |
| 148 | * ''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. |
| 149 | * ''Film/TooManyCooks'': [[spoiler:Bill isn’t affected (at least no to the same extent than the others) to Intronitis and kills every actor who’s affected.]] This can be interpreted as a criticism of healthy carriers who claim their superiority on infected people and that nobody should find a cure for their disease by arguing that the latter’s decay and death is only due to natural selection. |
| 150 | * ''Film/RichardJewell'': While those involved with the film insisted it was apolitical, Creator/ClintEastwood, known for his conservative views, promoted the film as the tragic tale of an innocent man mercilessly hounded by an unfair press and FBI, something that UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump often painted himself as. Adding to the fire was the HistoricalVillainUpgrade for journalist Kathy Scruggs, whose depiction was denounced by her real-life colleagues as slanderous, and the fact that the real bomber was a far-right terrorist who also attacked lesbian bars and abortion clinics, yet received only a passing mention near the end. It might be a little more ambiguous, though, since Eastwood refused to support Trump in 2020. |
| 151 | * ''Film/SoundOfFreedom'', a film about child trafficking, has gotten this reputation in large part due to star Creator/JimCaviezel and the film's real-life subject Tim Ballard espousing [=QAnon=] conspiracy theories, especially those about liberal "elites" being child-eating cannibals. The unease from liberals that resulted led to right-wing circles hyping it as "the movie liberals don't want you to see." All this despite the director insisting that the movie wasn't meant to be partisan in any way. |
| 152 | [[/folder]] |
| 153 | |
| 154 | [[folder:Folklore]] |
| 155 | * "Little Jack Horner" is a NurseryRhyme about a hungry boy that dips his finger in some pie. Since the 1700s, it's been interpreted as being political. It's been seen as being about opportunism, being antiauthoritarian, being anticlerical, etc. |
| 156 | * Myth/JuanBobo is a Puerto Rican folklore character. He's a [[TheFool foolish boy]] who always gets into trouble. Juan Bobo is sometimes seen as a symbol of resistance to the colonial oppression Puerto Ricans have endured. |
| 157 | * 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 she knew Hou-Yi would become an immortal tyrant (yay for the common people and insurrection). |
| 158 | [[/folder]] |
| 159 | |
| 160 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 161 | * ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'': As the book {{invert|edTrope}}s most gender-related tropes, many readers initially expect it to have political meaning, despite the typical romance novel cover. It is really just a romance, or maybe an adventure, which leads to confusion and, in some cases, frustration. |
| 162 | * Creator/JRRTolkien's ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' has often been in various and conflicting ways 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}}". |
| 163 | ** Some have interpreted ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' as an allegory for UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, despite Tolkien's [[WordOfGod explicit denial]] that he was into allegory, stated dislike of the concept, irritation at speculation over the one Ring's "symbolism" and the fact the storyline was conceived, in part, from UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. Tolkien even went so far as to outline what ''his'' allegory of World War II would actually look like: a dystopia where the Ring wasn't destroyed but instead used against Sauron, who also wouldn't have been destroyed but enslaved, while in the confusion and treacheries of the time Saruman would discover how to forge his own Ring, and all sides would hate, enslave, and eventually exterminate hobbits. |
| 164 | ** 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." |
| 165 | ** The Scouring of the Shire, with its 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 foreword to the Second Edition. |
| 166 | * [[WordOfGod According to Joe Haldeman]] ''Literature/TheForeverWar'' is only "about Vietnam" in the sense that that was the war that he had fought in; the points he was trying to make were equally applicable to ''any'' war. |
| 167 | * [[http://www.utahvalleymonitor.com/index.php?s=content&p=media-books-unfortunate-events This review]] interprets the penultimate book in ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' as a pro-terrorist, anti-American allegory for 9/11. |
| 168 | * [[http://www4.ncsu.edu/~tenshi/Killer_000.htm A few people]] (well, [[http://peachfront.diaryland.com/enderhitlte.html at least two]]) have asserted that Ender of ''Literature/EndersGame'' is actually [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Tiny Naked Hitler]]. |
| 169 | * There are many, many theories on how ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz'' is meant to represent politics at the time. As usual, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_interpretations_of_The_Wonderful_Wizard_of_Oz Wikipedia goes into a lot of detail]]. When asked, Baum said that his ''Literature/LandOfOz'' books were intended for children. The trope DystopianOz tales inspiration from these theories. |
| 170 | * Richard Adams has always claimed that ''Literature/WatershipDown'' is simply a children's book. However, many fans disagree with him and see the book as a rabbit version of ''Literature/AnimalFarm'' with the allegory taking aim at fascism and appeasement. Others see it as an attempt to fashion an English version of ''Literature/TheAeneid.'' |
| 171 | * ''Literature/TheWickedYears'' (the book series, not the [[Theatre/{{Wicked}} musical adaptation]]) has been seen by critics as a metaphor not only for Nazism/Fascism but also for Nixonian politics. Then again, it may have been intentional... |
| 172 | * ''Literature/HarryPotter'' |
| 173 | ** Many people see Dumbledore and Fudge as allegories for UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill and UsefulNotes/NevilleChamberlain respectively. It helps that WordOfGod says that the parallels between the Death Eaters and the Nazis ''were'' intentional. |
| 174 | ** Some have claimed that Umbridge is UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher. The similarity boils down to "both are right-wing female politicians I don't like". Some have also compared Umbridge to UsefulNotes/SarahPalin (who was largely unknown even to most ''Americans'' at the time the book was written) based on the same logic. Apparently being female (and conservative) is the all-important qualifier for declaring that a disliked politician "is" Umbridge (there are no comparisons to Angela Merkel yet, though). |
| 175 | * Literature/{{Discworld}} gets a bit of this from time to time. For example: The claims that ''Literature/{{Jingo}}'' or ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment'' are directly about the Iraq war (even though ''Jingo'' was written years before it), while ''Literature/SmallGods'' has been described as a critique of Christianity by some people and a ''defense'' thereof by others. |
| 176 | * The children's book ''The WesternAnimation/RainbowFish'' is about sharing, but many pundits accused it of being socialist propaganda written to turn children against traditional American values. |
| 177 | * Apparently the author of ''Literature/EnchantressFromTheStars'', Sylvia Louise Engdahl, got enough questions about this that she answered 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. |
| 178 | * Vladimir Nabokov insisted that his dystopian novel ''Literature/BendSinister'' was not meant to satirize the Soviet Union (or any other totalitarian regime), even though it features a country called Padukgrad and a dictator called Paduk. |
| 179 | * ''Literature/ThePowerOfFive'': The Old Ones vote Republican. No, really. |
| 180 | ** 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.]] |
| 181 | * The first ChivalricRomance was written by French authors about Charlemagne and his knights. However, even in France, Myth/KingArthur and his knights took over as a favored theme. Many nobles and kings were related to one or the other figure in the Matter of France, and others claimed to be (even the fictitious ones). Arthur was safer. (Political use of him did occur, but was obviously derived from the romances, making their political implications less.) |
| 182 | * An in-universe example in ''Literature/{{It}}'' by Creator/StephenKing: when Bill Denbrough is in college in the early 1970s, he takes a writing class with a left-leaning professor who only likes stories that make a political point. For this reason, he dislikes most of Bill's apolitical sci-fi and horror stories. The only story he gives a good grade to is one about an alien conflict that he interprets as having an anti-war message. |
| 183 | * ''Literature/WingsOfFire'' is a fantasy series written for children. But the second arc is about Dragon Hitler convincing his impoverished brethren to wage war on a tundra-dwelling species comprised primarily of soldiers with aristocratic heritage, so one may be reminded of [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Nazi Germany fighting the USSR]]. |
| 184 | * ''Literature/{{Hoot}}'' is a young adult novel focusing on a boy who befriends another boy who is sabotaging the construction of a pancake restaurant to save some burrowing owls on the property. So naturally it was accused of portraying radical environmentalists and [[AnimalWrongsGroup hardline animal rights activists]] sympathetically. |
| 185 | [[/folder]] |
| 186 | |
| 187 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 188 | * ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'': |
| 189 | ** 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. |
| 190 | ** The Framework reality in the final third of Season 4 has so many references to 2017 American politics they cannot be called parallels: |
| 191 | *** The HYDRA-controlled government use more drones to surveil its citizens. |
| 192 | *** At one point, in response to how HYDRA is normalized in the Framework reality, Simmons tells a kid that all HYDRA are Nazis "and don't you ever let anyone forget it." [[http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/12/seth-meyers-alt-right-nazis-normalization-media This has been said almost word for word regarding the alt-right movement in real life.]] |
| 193 | *** It's also been [[http://screenrant.com/agents-shield-framework-simmons-hydra-nazis/ interpreted as metacommentary]] on Marvel Comics' ongoing ''Secret Empire'' storyline, which has been extremely controversial for having Captain America join forces with HYDRA (Captain America was conceived as an anti-fascist hero by two Jewish comic book creators), and Magneto not raising an objection (Magneto himself is Jewish, has a backstory deeply tied to his being a holocaust survivor, and a historical violent antipathy, attempting to kill the Red Skull on several occasions), with the justification from comics writer Nick Spencer for this being that HYDRA aren't really Nazis. ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' [[https://twitter.com/AgentsofSHIELD/status/849451227620548608 obviously disagrees.]] |
| 194 | *** It is hinted in one of the X-Men books that Magneto's promised someone that he won't interfere in HYDRA's America. Exactly why is unclear, but at the very least, he isn't working for them. |
| 195 | *** Framework!Fitz says HYDRA will "make our society great again." |
| 196 | *** If that wasn't hit hard enough, Framework!Fitz says of Skye "Nevertheless, she persisted," which a couple months earlier had become a MemeticMutation against sexism and the Republican government specifically. [[note]]During the debate over installing Jeff Sessions as the attorney general, Elizabeth Warren tried to read a letter Martin Luther King's widow had written in the '80s about his racist actions. The committee refused to let her speak, which Senate Majority Leader Mitch [=McConnell=] tried to justify with "She was warned. She was given an ultimatum. Nevertheless, she persisted." The quote was promptly turned against his side with people attributing the same description to all kinds of powerful female figures.[[/note]] |
| 197 | *** 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. |
| 198 | * ''Series/TheAmericans'': A show that glamorizes UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan and the UsefulNotes/ColdWar with BigBad DirtyCommunists all over the place, on Fox? It's almost too easy... |
| 199 | * ''Series/{{Babylon|2014}}'' had as one of its central plot threads the shooting of an unarmed black teenager by police officers. Rather awkwardly, shortly after the series started broadcasting in Britain (and shortly before its American broadcast), this suddenly became a very, very, hot-button issue. |
| 200 | * ''Series/BabylonFive'' |
| 201 | ** The show has been decried as leftist propaganda specifically made to decry the UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush administration. This would be a difficult feat, since ''B5'' '''ended''' two years before Bush was elected President. Oops. |
| 202 | ** 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. |
| 203 | --->'''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 of what things mean to the viewer to hash out. A good story should provoke discussion, debate, argument... [[BarBrawl and the occasional bar fight]]. |
| 204 | * ''Series/BattlestarGalactica1978'' had some great WriterOnBoard moments of lambasting Cold War era fans of detente, portraying anyone who'd rather try to make friends with the Cylons as a naive patsy for not realizing just how AlwaysChaoticEvil the Cylons were. The pilot movie, in turn, turned out oddly prophetic about events following the 9/11 attack. |
| 205 | * ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'' takes this to new, but inverted, levels. The occupation of New Caprica, for example, was explicitly written to echo the American occupation of Iraq. The writers have said they purposefully wrote close to the deadlines to get their commentary closer to current affairs. |
| 206 | * While WordOfGod has stated that ''Series/BreakingBad'' is a story of how "Mr. Chips became Scarface", the original driving force behind Walt's meth manufacturing, to help pay for his medical bills, has prompted pro-single payer health care advocates in the US to use the show to [[http://www.anorak.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/breaking-bad-in-the-UK.jpg highlight the issue of health care costs in the United States,]] as well as the War on Drugs. Even the creator has [[http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/bryan-cranston-on-the-joy-of-cooking-meth-obamacare-and-malcolm-in-the-middle-20110610 claimed]] that the show could not be set anywhere else but the United States. |
| 207 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 208 | ** At the end of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS6E7TheWarGames The War Games]]", the Time Lords ask the Doctor to choose his own face from a bunch of drawings projected on a screen. One (the one dismissed by the Doctor as 'too old') appears to be Karl Marx. Draw your own conclusions. |
| 209 | ** 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? |
| 210 | ** It's well known "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS15E4TheSunMakers The Sun Makers]]" is about [[AuthorTract the evils of taxation]] and written by a Thatcher supporter, but, since the actual story presents the issue more as "untouchable mega-corporations and corrupt bankers have bought out the government and are draining money out of the poorest to boost their own profits while keeping the population constantly afraid via media to distract them", modern critics tend to read it as a satire on the evils of privatization, or Occupy-style anti-capitalist. Privatization was just around the corner in 1977, and the Occupy movement was 35 years away. Is it more likely that Creator/RobertHolmes was secretly hard-left and able to see the future, or that he was ramping up the setting's systemic injustice to the point he accidentally [[BrokenAesop broke his own right-wing aesop]]? |
| 211 | ** In the Eighties, script editor Eric Saward purposefully tried to avoid political subtext as much as possible for a variety of reasons (lack of desire to offend, lack of desire to make allegorical stories about the real world in favor of interacting with the series' own history as a work of fiction, and several other reasons). This caused some BrokenAesop moments, like when the series bought back the highly political Silurians in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E1WarriorsOfTheDeep an apolitical action story where nothing indicates either side is anything more than just a nasty lizard creature]] — and of course the politics ended up in there anyway. This restriction ended when producer Creator/JohnNathanTurner stopped caring, freeing the next script editor Creator/AndrewCartmel to make clearly and transparently political stories about BBC politics ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E4TheGreatestShowInTheGalaxy The Greatest Show in the Galaxy]]"), UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E2TheHappinessPatrol The Happiness Patrol]]") and lesbianism ("[[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E4Survival Survival]]"). |
| 212 | ** 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]] arrived. |
| 213 | ** Creator/MarkGatiss is often criticized for reactionary racist/sexist/warmongering Aesops in his ''Who'' stories, but his real-world political leanings are known as left-wing. A lot of it may be down to bad luck — "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E3TheUnquietDead The Unquiet Dead]]" (often read as an allegory for how war refugees should be treated with suspicion and can never assimilate into society) happened to come out at a time when asylum seekers were featured heavily in the news. "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E8ColdWar Cold War]]" accidentally portrays mutually assured destruction as good, which might have gone unnoticed had the episode not synced up with the death of Margaret Thatcher. "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E11TheCrimsonHorror The Crimson Horror]]" has Creator/DianaRigg playing the episode's MsFanservice star, who (just before it aired) went in the papers saying uninformed [[StrawFeminist things]] about feminists. |
| 214 | ** This concept is made fun of in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E10Blink Blink]]": |
| 215 | --->'''Sally:''' How can you know what I'm gonna say?\ |
| 216 | '''The Doctor:''' Look to your left.\ |
| 217 | ''[Sally looks to her left, and sees Larry transcribing everything she says]''\ |
| 218 | '''Larry:''' What does he mean by "look to your left"? I've written tons about that on the forums. I think it's a political statement.\ |
| 219 | '''Sally:''' He means ''you''. |
| 220 | ** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E11TurnLeft Turn Left]]", an episode about Donna indirectly causing a racist, fascist government to take over Britain by turning ''right'' at a junction. |
| 221 | ** The ''Daily Mirror'' published an article claiming that in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E2TheBeastBelow The Beast Below]]", the Doctor's line "And once every five years, everyone chooses to forget what they've learned. Democracy in action." should be read as a call to the public to re-elect UsefulNotes/GordonBrown's Labour government. If so, it didn't work. |
| 222 | ** The central dilemma in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E7KillTheMoon Kill the Moon]]" was accused of being "an allegory for the abortion debate" by some North American viewers. Notably, viewers in Europe didn't notice such an angle to the problem and were baffled by the [[VocalMinority fixation of a part of the American viewership]] on this accusation. While debates about the morality of abortion occur on both sides of the Atlantic, the American ones generally tend to be more heated and divided, which might have contributed to such a reading of a narrative element in the episode. |
| 223 | ** Some people have interpreted [[Recap/DoctorWHoS36E6Extremis "Extremis"]] and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E7ThePyramidAtTheEndOfTheWorld "The Pyramid at the End of the World"]] as a reaction against the election of Donald Trump as US President and the UK's decision to leave the European Union. The view is slightly helped by the writer of the latter also writing [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E7TheZygonInvasion "The Zygon Invasion"]] and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E8TheZygonInversion "The Zygon Inversion"]], which is clearly an allegory for the political climate at the time regarding refugees and terrorists. |
| 224 | * Both American political parties, Democrat and Republican, see [[TheEmpire The Alliance]] in ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' as the other and the Browncoats as themselves. WordOfGod says that was an accident. The only overtly and intentional political messaging in the whole show is feminist undertones that are a cornerstone of Joss Whedon's work. |
| 225 | * ''Series/LukeCage2016'': Some aspects of the show, such as Luke's choice in attire and the obvious Trump references in season two, are very much political. Others, however, aren't, such as with Luke's ImplacableMan moment in Crispus Attucks in season 1. [[https://decider.com/2016/09/15/luke-cage-showrunner-cheo-hodari-coker-on-mike-colter-heroes-for-hire-and-making-an-inclusively-black-superhero-show/ In an interview]], showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker acknowledged that politics can certainly be read into the Crispus Attucks attack, and would be extremely relevant, but the scene drew primarily from ''Film/TheTerminator''. |
| 226 | -->'''Cheo Hodari Coker''': Luke, being bulletproof and walking through Crispus Attucks was really more influenced by Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger's invading the police station in ''[[Film/TheTerminator Terminator]]''. And we shot it that way. But when you see the images of a bulletproof black man in a hoodie walking forward... it just has like the symbolic meaning that I don't think we even anticipated. |
| 227 | * ''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 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 a political act in and of itself. |
| 228 | * [[http://www.slate.com/id/2177380/pagenum/all/ This Slate article]], which explains that Jerry Series/{{Seinfeld}} and his comedy routine represent conformity and lack of identity in a totalitarian government. Um... right. |
| 229 | * A book claimed that ''Series/StargateSG1'' was white supremacist propaganda. |
| 230 | ** This claim may be inspired by the fact that the ''only'' religion of old (and by extension its "gods", i.e. the aliens standing in as these gods, or who inspired it) that is portrayed as good is Myth/NorseMythology. These "gods" are a race of [[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens Sufficiently Advanced]] [[TheGreys Grey Aliens]] called Asgard, who regularly help Earth (and the teams of the Stargate Command in particular, who earned their trust), while otherwise posing as benevolent gods to less advanced societies in the few times they show up on their planets. Basically any other religion that shows up is staffed by Goa'uld, who are always evil and incredibly selfish (there is one exception in Lord Yu, who never claimed to be a God, and who was the first Chinese Emperor). |
| 231 | ** 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 addressed at all. There ''is'' however a Goa'uld who poses as {{Satan}} and turned a planet/moon into hell just because he could. |
| 232 | ** Others interpreted it as the final victory of science over religion, fought by heroic atheists and liberated ex-faithful against an amalgamation of the leaders of the world's faiths. |
| 233 | * The third season of ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' drew heavily on current events. Earth is savagely attacked, apparently out of nowhere, and the NX-01 (bringing along a cohort of SpaceMarines) heads into a treacherous region of space to find the culprits. Many fans were afraid this storyline would be untrue to ''Trek'''s philosophy, but they needn't have worried: the aliens aren't all bad (though there are a few problems - like that the most humanoid ones get a HeelFaceTurn but the [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent reptilian]] Xindi stay evil (although [[YouHaveFailedMe you wouldn't say no to]] [[BadBoss the head reptile, either]]) and the [[BigCreepyCrawlies insectoids]] [[strike: stay evil]] get cold feet while in transit to Earth and are blown up by the reptilians for their troubles), Archer's new hard-edged attitude isn't always endorsed, and there's enough ambiguity all round to keep it from being StrawmanPolitical in either direction. |
| 234 | ** Prior to that, a couple of first-season episodes -- "Fortunate Son" and especially "Detained" -- examined elements of the war on terror. But contrary to a common assumption, the decision to name the first season's bad guys "Suliban" happened long before 9/11. They ''were'' named after the Taliban, but only because Rick Berman thought that name had the exotic sound he wanted; [[HarsherInHindsight no one was expecting it to become a household name]]. |
| 235 | * 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). |
| 236 | * 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.) |
| 237 | * Some have criticized the ''Franchise/UltraSeries'' for supposedly having nationalistic anti-foreign sentiments, seeing the Japanese defense teams defending against various alien threats as paralleling Japan pushing away foreigners and foreign influence. Many point to the second episode of the original ''Series/{{Ultraman}}'' as an example, where the Baltan aliens were fleeing refugees after they blew up their own planet.[[note]]Ignoring the fact that they were planning to enslave humanity and take the planet by force, ''and'' Science Patrol actually okayed the idea of the Baltans living on the planet so long as they abided Earth's laws (which the aliens refused).[[/note]] This is ignoring the many times that aliens were shown sympathetically (even as tragic victims of [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything allegorical]] [[FantasticRacism racism]][[note]]such as in episode 33 of ''Series/ReturnOfUltraman'', episode 25 of ''Series/UltramanMax'', and many episodes of ''Series/UltraSeven''[[/note]]) and the main heroes, the Ultramen, are well... aliens. |
| 238 | * 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 "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. |
| 239 | * ''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. |
| 240 | [[/folder]] |
| 241 | |
| 242 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 243 | * Music/{{Radiohead}} maintain that their 2003 album ''Music/HailToTheThief'' was not named for the 2000 election chant. Although it ''is'' supposed to be about the rise of the [[StrawmanPolitical scary right-wing]]. |
| 244 | * The Website/{{Wikipedia}} article on Music/{{Yatta}} used to include this: |
| 245 | -->"The sketch appears to be at least partly ironic commentary on attempts by the Japanese government and others to maintain optimism in the face of Japan's severe economic troubles, depicting men impoverished to the degree of having no clothing but the figurative fig leaf (though in this case the leaves are attached to the men's briefs) yet maintaining an irrational, irrepressible belief in their own potential for success." |
| 246 | * 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. |
| 247 | * "Dancing in the Street" by Martha and the Vandellas was taken as an allegory for the civil rights movement, which was in full swing at the time of the song's release. Martha Reeves denied any political meaning to the song, but it was popular enough at rallies that it became controversial anyway. |
| 248 | * "Helicopter" by Music/BlocParty (which features such lyrics as "Stop being so American" and "Just like his dad") is frequently misinterpreted as being about UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush. Vocalist Kele Okereke has gone on record as saying he actually wrote it about ''himself''. |
| 249 | * David Gilmour: "Blue Light", a song about a generic FemmeFatale, was thought by many to be about UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher (blue being the color of Thatcher's Conservative Party). |
| 250 | * 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. |
| 251 | * Manowar was accused of supporting Nazism because the song "Blood Of Kings" has the line "back to the glory of Germany," intended as a ShoutOut to their large German fanbase. |
| 252 | * Music/{{Rammstein}} is occasionally accused of promoting fascism largely because their lyrics are angry and in German...[[HitlerAteSugar Just like Hitler!]] To refute such allegations, they wrote "Links 2-3-4", "Links" being the German for "left". The song declares that politically, the band are to the left, one repeated line being roughly "my heart beats to the left". Just to troll, though, they made the song sound like a military march, and "Links 2-3-4" is an actual German marching cadence, so ''the album containing the song'' was referred to by a reviewer as "MusicToInvadePolandTo." |
| 253 | * The liner notes to Music/SteelyDan's "Kings" {{invoke|dTrope}} this trope for an aversion/subversion (depending), with a [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial disclaimer]] stating (more or less) that "this song is in no way political." [[SarcasmMode Sure]], given that this song's chorus is "We've seen the last/Of Good King [[UsefulNotes/RichardNixon Richard]]...Raise up the glass/To Good King [[UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy John]]", and that Walter Becker and Donald Fagen were very embittered [[TheSixties '60s]] liberals writing in 1972... |
| 254 | * Russel Morris' MindScrew "The Real Thing" was interpreted by many as a commentary on UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar ("Is there a meaning here? Is there a meaning there? Does it really mean a thing?"). WordOfGod was that was actually bemused speculation about Coca-Cola's slogan. |
| 255 | * Music/TheDoors' 1968 song "The Unknown Soldier" is usually taken to be a denunciation of the Vietnam War, which was at its height at the time. This is plausible, especially when Morrison describes the soldier's wife learning of her husband's death on the TV news (Vietnam being the first major war to receive extensive televised news coverage), but the lyrics are worded in such a way that, the television reference notwithstanding, the song could be applied to any war between UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and today. And the Doors tended to remain silent on political matters, anyway. |
| 256 | * In order to counter the misconception that rock music and conservatism are wholly incompatible, the magazine ''National Review'' offered [[http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/217737/rockin-right/john-j-miller a list of "Greatest Conservative Rock Songs."]] Problem is, close examination will reveal that only about 40 percent of the songs are truly conservative; the rest are either libertarian or are just "old-fashioned" in a way that really isn't political at all. (For example, one song is considered "conservative" because it contains a Latin prayer.) Plenty of songs were included because they were at least partially anti-communist (did you ever hear of a popular song that was ''pro''-communist?), as if conservatives have ever had a monopoly on anti-communism (and anyway, one of these songs is only "anti-communist" because it depicts the color ''[[RedScare red]]'' negatively!). |
| 257 | * "Disarm" by Music/TheSmashingPumpkins has been interpreted as being about the abortion debate because of the out-of-context lyrics "what I choose is my choice", "the killer in me is the killer in you" and "cut that little child" (although if those lines ''were'' all meant to be about abortion, they'd be pretty self-contradictory). Lyricist Billy Corgan has said it's an autobiographical song about his relationship with his parents growing up. |
| 258 | * [[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'. |
| 259 | * Swedish PowerMetal band Music/{{Sabaton}} has been accused of [[WarIsGlorious glorifying war]] and even Nazism with their HorribleHistoryMetal songs about UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. This once included complaints from a Russian local politician that ended in the cancellation of a concert. The band members, who think of themselves as storytellers, openly refer to such accusations as "bullshit" and wonder why nobody accuses Creator/QuentinTarantino of promoting Nazism for portraying Wehrmacht personnel sympathetically in ''Film/InglouriousBasterds''. [[note]][[{{Irony}} This is, in fact, a reasonably common criticism of]] ''Film/InglouriousBasterds''.[[/note]] In the songs themselves, the actual Nazis are AlwaysChaoticEvil and the Wehrmacht only unambiguously the good guys on occasions where they defy or outright fight Nazi orders ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0KEShtL8wo "No Bullets Fly"]][[note]][[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Brown_and_Franz_Stigler_incident A Luftwaffe pilot escorting a damaged B-17 to safety rather than finishing it off]][[/note]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uk2NeKBG5A "Hearts of Iron"]][[note]][[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Halbe#The_third_breakout_attempt The 9th and 12th Armies struggling to evacuate civilians to American lines as the Red Army advanced into Berlin]][[/note]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQj7TB_-qn4 "The Last Battle"]][[note]]an SS officer freeing his prisoners and working together with the US Army and LaResistance to defeat a Waffen-SS death squad[[/note]]), and the band stopped playing [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96HtY9XJSMA "The Final Solution"]] in concerts for several years after getting freaked out by the audience ''enjoying'' a song condemning UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust. |
| 260 | * Music/GreenDay's "Wake Me Up When September Ends" is usually interpreted 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. |
| 261 | * The spanish song "La Cucaracha" acquired a lot of variations over the course of history, especially during the Mexican Revolution period. To the point where even one of the more common variations can refer to president Huerta's addiction. |
| 262 | * The Music/{{Queen|Band}} song [[Music/TheMiracle "I Want It All"]] is about ambition (the title deriving from writer Music/BrianMay's wife's favorite sayings), not a gay anthem or anti-Apartheid as some have interpreted it. |
| 263 | * Music/BillieEilish has said that she is uncomfortable with certain fans who praise her specifically for not having a sexualised image in contrast to many other female pop singers (she usually wears baggy clothing that doesn't show much skin, and many of her videos and publicity shots are creepy verging at times on outright BodyHorror). She says that it's purely her expressing herself, she doesn't see it as making any wider point about gender politics, and she really doesn't want to be used as a contrast to shame female celebrities who do have a sexier image. |
| 264 | * Music/{{Voltaire}}'s song "God Thinks" is often misinterpreted as being anti-religion, when it is actually against people who use God and/or religion to spread their own agendas. |
| 265 | -->'''Voltaire''': People do misinterpret that song sometimes, they think it's anti-God or anti-religion.... I'm just anti-hypocrisy. |
| 266 | [[/folder]] |
| 267 | |
| 268 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 269 | * Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart |
| 270 | ** The cry "Viva la libertà!" in the first act finale of ''Theatre/DonGiovanni'', where Mozart takes a single line from Lorenzo Da Ponte's text and has all the characters repeat it over and over, is read by some as Mozart's support for the French Revolution. |
| 271 | ** 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, based on Beaumarchais' "Le Marriage de Figaro." |
| 272 | ** ''The Magic Flute'' however, is generally considered Masonic propaganda and a critique of Austria under the repressively Catholic monarchy of UsefulNotes/MariaTheresa. |
| 273 | * Music/GiuseppeVerdi's ''Theatre/{{Nabucco}}'', with the famous [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD4gWvTXj44 Chorus of Hebrew Slaves]] (the Jews held captive in Babylon crying for the loss of their homeland), was written at a time where the movement to unify Italy was gaining momentum. The chorus became an unofficial anthem of the movement. |
| 274 | ** Verdi's later operas ''Don Carlos'' and ''[[Theatre/AidaVerdi Aida]]'' both have fanatical priests with political power as the main antagonists. |
| 275 | * ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'' has been interpreted by some fans and critics as (among other things) a tribute to President UsefulNotes/BarackObama, who was nearing the end of his tenure in office when it premiered on Broadway. The play emphasizes many features of UsefulNotes/AlexanderHamilton's life and career that could also easily apply to Obama--also a politician who came from {{humble beginnings}}, grew up on [[UsefulNotes/{{Hawaii}} an island]] without his father in his life, attended Columbia University, went into politics after moving to the big city, developed a reputation as an intellectual, and ultimately staked his legacy on an ambitious government program that required significant political compromises to pass through Congress. While Creator/LinManuelMiranda ''is'' a notable supporter of Obama, he has never explicitly stated that this was intentional. |
| 276 | [[/folder]] |
| 277 | |
| 278 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 279 | * 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. |
| 280 | * ''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. |
| 281 | * ''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. |
| 282 | ** The reaction and charges of "propaganda" and the great number of errors in representation have 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. |
| 283 | ---> ''[[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."]]'' |
| 284 | ** 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. |
| 285 | * ''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]] |
| 286 | * 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]]. |
| 287 | * ''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. |
| 288 | * ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'': The entire augmentation debate is just like the abortion debate. Clinics built for augmentations being protested and firebombed by detractors, supporters declaring that it is their body and they will do with it what they like, and people against it using religious statements to oppose it. In one protest, you can see signs that say, "I regret my augmentation" much like "I regret my abortion" signs. And much how in real life how people on the fence about abortion will say "I don't mind it in cases of rape, health issues, or incest," one can hear characters say "I don't mind it in the cases of amputees." The Humanity Front and Purity First has many real-world analogies, with a legitimate political group sharing goals and views with a terrorist organisation, such as Sinn Féin and the IRA or Animal Rights groups and the ALF. Conspiracy-wise, Sarif Industries is under fire for trying to end Neuropozyne dependency, and in Real Life, there are proposals to develop [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embryo_transfer embryo transfer]] to the point that abortion would not be lethal to the fetus - these cannot get off the ground due to anti-technologists protesting stem cell research... and stem cell researchers would probably rather not have the supply of aborted fetuses for stem cells cut off. The anti-aug crowd want augs eliminated, and Versalife is making a killing on Neuropozyne. |
| 289 | ** On top of that, the augmentation debate has a case of EnemyMine, where those that object to it based on religious grounds are paired with those that object to it on economic grounds. The former see it as an affront to God by interfering with His design, while the latter see it as causing the gap between wealthy and poor to become even wider, as those that have augments will get preferential treatment because they're physically more capable. |
| 290 | ** [[http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/2012/03/social-satire-of-deus-ex-human.html One fan's essay on Deus Ex: Human Revolution's Social Satire]] covers some of the issues nicely. |
| 291 | *** He also wrote a sequel on the DLC. [[http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/2012/03/social-satire-of-deus-ex-human_27.html The Missing Link Social Satire.]] |
| 292 | * ''VideoGame/DeusExMankindDivided'' takes it in the opposite direction, where those with augmentations are treated as second-class citizens after "The Incident", which was straight-up called "mechanical apartheid" in promotional materials. The phrase "Aug Lives Matter" (a reference to the "Black Lives Matter" movement) also appears in the game, which the game's PR department claimed was an "[[https://www.polygon.com/2016/8/3/12368210/deus-ex-mankind-divided-augs-lives-matter-controversy unfortunate coincidence]]." There's also a dialogue exchange with a policewoman who regrets her profession chosen due to the political climate, saying "If I could do it again, I'd have been a fireman. No one looks into a fire and thinks, 'Shit, does this one really deserve it?'" |
| 293 | * ''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.]] |
| 294 | * 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.]] |
| 295 | * ''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 emulsion 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. |
| 296 | * ''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]]. |
| 297 | * ''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. |
| 298 | ** [[OlderThanTheyThink And the fact]] that Halo's main MythArc was plotted in the [[TheNineties mid-nineties]], several years before the events of 9/11 kicked-off the War On Terror. The first game in the series happened to be released shortly thereafter, but over four years of work had gone into it by that point, with trailers and interviews already establishing to the public the work's setup. |
| 299 | ** Others believe it's actually an allegory for UsefulNotes/TheCrusades. |
| 300 | ** After the end of Apartheid in South Africa, the new multi-racial government set up the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_and_Reconciliation_Commission_%28South_Africa%29 Truth and Reconciliation Commission]] to investigate human rights abuses under the old regime. In ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'', the multi-racial Covenant have a ship called the ''Truth And Reconciliation''. Draw your own conclusions. |
| 301 | * Some believe that the ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'' series was allegorical for the usage of child soldiers in African nations. A carefree youth is captured and mentally abused until his mind becomes violent enough to attack anyone a voice in command tells him to. Then someone hands him a gun for the first time in his life and he's a natural with it. |
| 302 | ** Furthermore, ''VideoGame/JakIIRenegade'' was [[EpilepticTrees claimed]] by some to be a [[TakeThat thinly veiled protest against]] the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the Bush administration ([[FauxSymbolism as supposedly represented by the MetalHead War and Baron Praxis respectively]]), particularly accusations that there were wars that were fought solely for political and/or economic gain by governments that had illegitimately gained power.[[note]]With Baron Praxis's usurpation of power supposedly paralleling the Presidential election of 2000.[[/note]] However, there is no proof that Creator/NaughtyDog had any sort of [[WriterOnBoard political agenda]] when they made the game and, for that matter, had been in development well before the controversies regarding the Iraq War began. |
| 303 | * ''VideoGame/LethalCompany'' tasks you with collecting scrap in [[NoOSHACompliance unsafe working conditions]], and slaps you with increasingly high profit quotas. If you fail to meet quota, you're [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness fired (jettisoned into space) and just generally seen as expendable]]. These elements are in place to put forth the game's BlackComedy, but it was also released around the same time that many corporate game development studios were exercising a series of mass layoffs. It certainly doesn't help that many of them were also being exposed for unfair treatment in the workplace, and that the game was released in the middle of the then-ongoing Hollywood strikes. |
| 304 | * 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.]] |
| 305 | * 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: |
| 306 | ** Upon being discovered by the rest of the galaxy the Krogan were ruthlessly exploited by races far more technologically developed than they were, and once they were no longer needed and became a problem, the development of their 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. |
| 307 | ** The story of the Quarians losing their homeworld and much of their population in a [[InferredHolocaust extremely violent cataclysm]], and then 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]]. |
| 308 | *** Note that the Quarians may also represent organizations such as Hamas, depending on how sympathetic the player considers either group to be. |
| 309 | *** 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. |
| 310 | ** 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. |
| 311 | --->'''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.'' |
| 312 | *** 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. |
| 313 | *** 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. |
| 314 | * ''[[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. |
| 315 | * ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'' has been interpreted as an allegory to socialism. |
| 316 | * Some have interpreted ''VideoGame/PizzaTower'' as somewhat of a commentary on shady business practices of large corporations when dealing with smaller competitors. Pizzaface has a massive corporate empire in the tower, spanning from various restaurants (Golf, Fastfood Saloon, Don't Make A Sound), production centers (Fun Farm, Peppibot Factory), and even a tropical vacation resort (the third hub). He threatens to shoot Peppino's Pizza with a giant laser, mirroring how larger businesses will throw money around, rather than using the actual quality of their product, to remove small businesses. [[spoiler:And the real final boss Pizzahead]] seems to perfectly mirror Mascots from large chains like [[UsefulNotes/McDonalds Ronald McDonald]], a happy-go-lucky face hiding a darker corporate side. Peppino by contrast, while down on his luck, and not perfect, is genuinely passionate about his job. [[spoiler:This passion allows him to defeat Pizzahead despite everything he throws at him, showing the true triumph of the small businessman.]] |
| 317 | * ''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. |
| 318 | * ''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. |
| 319 | * ''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?]] |
| 320 | * The "Octarian vs. Inkling" war that forms part of the backstory in ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'' has been compared to imperialism and other political issues. It doesn't help that one of the [[CollectionSidequest Sunken Scrolls]] in the first game shows Octarians in more traditional Japanese attire than the Inklings. |
| 321 | * ''VideoGame/SpiderManPS4'' possesses themes of Terrorism enacted in New York, poverty, safety over liberty, the rich and powerful bullying the lower classes with violence and legal loopholes, all lampshaded by a loud, Alex Jones-ish JJJ. WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids |
| 322 | ** It especially does not help that Norman Osborn is portrayed as [[UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump the rich owner of a New York-based monopoly dealing in one shady, arguably illegal act after another that goes on to become an influential faux-populist political figure that uses his political power for profit and to reign in an Authoritarian grip on the people there.]] When did this game come out, again? |
| 323 | ** On Spidey's social media feed, Fisk's lawyer will use the term "Fake News" (in all caps no less) to try and discredit the patently obvious. In this case, that the guys attacking cops from Fisk's tower while wearing Fisk-branded uniforms are, in fact, working for Wilson Fisk. |
| 324 | ** 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. |
| 325 | * ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'': |
| 326 | ** 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. |
| 327 | ** Wario's money-grubbing behaviour, habit of running his video game company without paying his workers, and his generally chaotic and freedom-loving personality has led to ''many'' (earnest) debates over whether he is a libertarian, to the point where several gaming forums decided to ban any discussion of the topic. After Website/{{Twitter}} shitposter Blog/{{Dril}} described a Wario thread as [[https://twitter.com/dril/status/107911000199671808 'the greatest thread in the history of forums']], these discussions have [[DiscreditedTrope gone mostly extinct]], as anyone attempting to have them will get mocked. The mention of Wario's libertarianism in the Waluigi critical analysis above is used as an intentional reference to this tweet. |
| 328 | ** Some - including Creator/YujiNaka - have suggested, as part of the FandomRivalry between ''Super Mario'' and ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' - that Sonic is a better person because he fights for freedom out of the good of his own heart, while Mario fights for "coins and women". A related argument suggests that Mario, as a plumber fighting to protect a member of the monarchy, that he is an anti-worker class traitor. This reading is a bit of a stretch considering both franchises are basically fairy tales. |
| 329 | * [[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. |
| 330 | ** 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. |
| 331 | * ''WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical/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. It even has its own page. |
| 332 | * 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 Platform/{{Steam}} forums from declaring the game some sort of propaganda - exactly which kind of propaganda, they don't seem to agree on. |
| 333 | * ''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. |
| 334 | [[/folder]] |
| 335 | |
| 336 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 337 | * ''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 to this. Some fans also take Weiss' Volume 1 distrust of Faunus this way as Weiss has a German name. |
| 338 | * [[https://medium.com/@dustinkoski/charlie-from-hazbin-hotel-is-a-classical-liberal-810838172f1e This article]] states that ''WebAnimation/HazbinHotel'' (an animated show pilot for adults that deals with how Charlie, the princess of Hell, tries to redeem the souls of the damned) is a criticism, although involuntary, of classical liberals and how they do not understand the working class who they pretend to help. |
| 339 | [[/folder]] |
| 340 | |
| 341 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 342 | * ''Webcomic/DomainTnemrot''. The entire story is about rich people forcing the poor into slavery, and the main character goes on rants about how the rich should be using their money to help the poor rather than spend it on frivolous entertainment. On [[http://www.tnemrot.com/comic/2-02/ the page this rant appears]], though, the author insists that this is in no way a political comic and it's all just a part of the setting, while the main character's views are just a product of the environment he's grown up in. |
| 343 | * ''Webcomic/{{Erfworld}}'' has also been subject to this, with multiple fans trying to claim that Stanley the Tool is Erfworld's take on UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush. It's true that Erfworld is based on layer upon layer of puns and references, but claims like these just get annoying (especially in the face of more obvious puns and references concerning Stanley). And then Ansom [[spoiler:was killed and turned into an undead to serve as Stanley's chief warlord.]] Have fun figuring out how ''that'' fits into either theory. |
| 344 | * One ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' fan went out on a limb and speculated that Eridan's character arc is an allegorical critique of UsefulNotes/BarackObama's presidency. Memorably, it stipulated that Vriska Serket was actually a metaphor for [[spoiler: [[ShapedLikeItself Vriska Serket]]]]. |
| 345 | * ''Webcomic/ItsNotYourFault'': The story has some pretty strong anti-abortion overtones, especially near the end where, [[spoiler: despite Sam raping Lincoln, the two somehow manage to work it out as they keep the baby (Lina) and raise her before getting married]]. Whether this was intentional on the author's part has yet to be confirmed. |
| 346 | * ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': |
| 347 | ** Redcloak summons a fiendish mammoth as a mount. Following the strip's usual way of portraying fiendish creatures, it was red. Eventually the author had to specify that no, it was not supposed to be any kind of reference to the Republican party. |
| 348 | ** With a higher potential of controversy was the duel between Miko and Redcloak at the watch tower -- right before the 2006 U.S. Congress elections. On one side, you had a blue-themed character that tried to do good in the world, but for misguided reasons. On the other side, you had a red-themed character that is doing evil deeds but has a decent reason for doing them. The blue-themed character won the fight (after the electoral results of Democrat victory).[[note]]In-universe, both entities are equally horrible racists who would probably represent the same party; Miko is an angry, blame-deflecting fanatic, Redcloak is an angry, blame-deflecting fanatic.[[/note]] |
| 349 | * There was a 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. |
| 350 | * ''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. |
| 351 | [[/folder]] |
| 352 | |
| 353 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 354 | * Despite being a very bad translation of ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', ''WebVideo/BackstrokeOfTheWest'' managed to be even more critical of the UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush administration than the original material completely by accident: |
| 355 | ** 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.]] |
| 356 | ** Also, Speaker D's political enemies trying to discredit him by prying into his sex life may bring UsefulNotes/BillClinton's sex scandal to mind. |
| 357 | ** In a silly inversion, one would think a Chinese bootleg sub with, ahem, [[TranslationWithAnAgenda a few liberties taken in translation]] would be an intentional anti-American screed especially given the bad guys being re-translated into "the West," but that's just because ''xisi'', the Chinese character for "west," is as close as the language ever gets to "Sith," full of sounds the language just doesn't have. It makes one wonder, though... It's taken further in ''[[https://imgur.com/gallery/RwtUu The Counterattack Collection]]'', where the United States is suggested to be on the side of the Empire, to the point of having its own Star Destroyer! |
| 358 | --->'''Vanquish Is''': We must ruin the West! |
| 359 | * We would only stretch on the surface with these lines of ''VideoGame/BookOfMarioThousandsOfDoors''[[note]]a deliberately bad translation of ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor''[[/note]] who seem to come from the imaginations of illiterates from the whole political spectrum: |
| 360 | ** Many characters [[EasySexChange change gender depending on the sentence]] and nobody seems to be bothered by this. |
| 361 | ** Honesty Professor Caesar Reality's description of enemies as "[[SocietyIsToBlame objects that society has thrown away]]" may be a Marxist pamphlet about how society treats people as intellectuals or criminals depending on their social and cultural level before their race, especially if you consider he's a [[TheGoomba Goomba]] working with the heroes. |
| 362 | ** Goombell can show you ''the war in HD'', lampshading how Mario's BloodKnight tendencies matter more than saving the world, and makes racist comments despite the fact she's [[TokenHeroicOrc a Goomba fighting alongside Mario]]. |
| 363 | ** Carbon's obsession with being hard and his desire to '''[[{{Patricide}} end all fathers]]''' can be interpreted as an internal conflict between injunctions to become a real man and other injunctions to give up this spirit by destroying patriarchy. |
| 364 | ** [[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 off 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. |
| 365 | ** The "[[ADegreeInUseless Unemployed Graduate]]" item who lives in a small block in Rogue Harbor Sanitary seems to criticize United States' college system which forces to take ridiculously high mortgages for no guaranteed results. |
| 366 | ** [[TheDon Don Piano]] is an AffablyEvil mafia boss who loves grandchildren, but also a MoodSwinger who's the leader of UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion, despite the fact he only leads a small organization in a crappy port town. This one is on the verge between a souverainst pamphlet and conspiracy theory. |
| 367 | ** The fact that Flavio Candy's RichBoredom leads him to go on a crusade to ''bomb the United States'' has nothing to envy to conspiracy theorists neither, especially when he describes his enthusiasm as... ahem, "'''''[[CrossesTheLineTwice full of terrorism]]'''''". |
| 368 | * Some people have stated that the Socialist Block in the ''Literature/ChaosTimeline'' reminds them of the European Union. It controls Western Europe, its capital is Brussels, and its currency the Euro Pound. [[WordOfGod The author had intended no such thing]]. |
| 369 | * Blog/MarkDoesStuff is half boyish {{Keet}} excitement and half assumption that absolutely every narrative conflict is about "privilege" vs. "oppression". |
| 370 | * Conservapedia gets into this quite often, especially with their "Greatest Conservative..." lists of things from popular culture. Some of them make sense, while others are [[PoesLaw so absurd it's just about impossible to interpret their inclusion as anything other than satirical humor]]. To give just one example: their affirmation that ''Film/FerrisBuellersDayOff'' is an anti-socialist movie, based on a mostly forgettable line by the protagonist about how he doesn't care about studying socialists in history class, rings hollow because it's pretty clear that Ferris Bueller doesn't care about ''any'' political system and has no grasp of political science anyway (such as when he says that socialists could be [[CommieNazis "fascist anarchists"]] for all he cares). |
| 371 | * Chuck from ''Website/SFDebris'' has called the show a "political Rorschach test" thanks to him consistently getting mail from people of all political leanings accusing him of making propaganda for the other side, usually about the same episodes. |
| 372 | * Parodied in this satirical article named [[https://medium.com/think-tube/my-little-pony-friendship-is-marxism-d8dcaac974eb#.bs7mcvjvf "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Marxism?"]]. It is about an in-story author named Cliven Irving who makes ridiculous claims that the TV show ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' is a tool by the "Six Pointer Commission", [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial which is not at all an antisemitic slur]], to promote "Cultural Marxism" and LGBT activism. |
| 373 | * Website/{{Cracked}} explores this as it applies to [[http://www.cracked.com/article_19402_6-mind-blowing-ways-zombies-vampires-explain-america.html vampire and zombie stories in the US]]. Books/games/movies/etc. about [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]] become more prevalent when a Democrat is President, and [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombies]] become more popular when a Republican holds office. |
| 374 | * In a similar vein to ''Slate'' and ''Salon'' as detailed in the Live-Action TV folder, geek culture website ''Polygon'' likes to find every excuse it can to say that something is "problematic" given the current political climate. The more popular or anticipated something is, the harder they'll go at trying to tear it down, to the point it's almost become a running joke amongst the wider internet. ''Penny Arcade'' summed it up [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2017/11/22/impetus here.]] |
| 375 | * An essay by Creator/CTPhipps [[https://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/2017/11/politicizing-fiction-and-why-it-bothers.html discusses the phenomenon and how it gets ridiculous with genre fiction]]. |
| 376 | * Most of ''Website/TheOnion'' definitely is political, but one element of it that gets this a lot is their "Kelly" single-panel political cartoons. The artist's "Kelly" persona is definitely intended to be a right-wing GrumpyOldMan, but the true target of the cartoons is not any specific political ideology, but poor-quality political cartooning in general: obtrusive, ugly labelling that is either unnecessary because the metaphor is so obvious, or too necessary because the metaphor is too strained or obscure; cliched imagery as a substitute for an actual argument (the Statue of Liberty weeping in sadness or joy, TheGrimReaper labelled with anything negatively depicted in the cartoon); caricatures of real people that look creepily OffModel instead of amusing; attempted allusions to popular culture that are [[AnalogyBackfire badly chosen]], [[CommonKnowledge misinformed]], [[TotallyRadical dated]], or [[CowboyBebopAtHisComputer just wildly ignorant]]; and ridiculously excessive attacks on [[AuthorFilibuster anything that happened to irritate the cartoonist that day]]. |
| 377 | [[/folder]] |
| 378 | |
| 379 | [[folder:Web Videos]] |
| 380 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxr2d4As312LulcajAkKJYw Townsends]] is a Website/YouTube channel that revolves around 18th century American living, with an emphases of cooking. A video shot at Mount Vernon is about orange fool, a custard dessert enjoyed by the Washingtons. Once the video was posted, the comments section was flooded with comments from people who saw "orange fool" as a TakeThat against Donald Trump. The clearly upset host of the channel had to release a follow-up video to strenuously deny that the subject had anything to do with Trump or that the channel was in any way political. |
| 381 | * In the LP of [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga Mario or Luigi Superstar Saga]] by LetsPlay/{{medibot}} and [=MyNameIsKaz=], Kaz's offhand comment on how much money Prince Peasley must spend on [[BishieSparkle the flashing light and sparkles that appear when he gestures]] leads to discussions on how the Bean-Bean Kingdom courts are obviously despotic and tyrannical, and that they are embroiled deep in violations of Bean People rights and conspiracies involving the secret mining and production of a fuel reserve to secure their position of power amongst their neighbour states. [[https://youtu.be/hmiyQRCGmGU It has to be heard to be believed.]] |
| 382 | [[/folder]] |
| 383 | |
| 384 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 385 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'': |
| 386 | ** ''The Smurfs'' [[RedScare have been interpreted as a metaphor for Communism]], with some claiming that their name is an acronym for "Socialist Men Under Red Father". |
| 387 | ** They have also been interpreted as a metaphor for the KKK, probably by Americans who have only seen the animated series, and were unaware that it was based on [[ComicBook/TheSmurfs comics]] by a Belgian author, Creator/{{Peyo}}. |
| 388 | ** 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.) |
| 389 | * ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGummiBears'': |
| 390 | ** 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. |
| 391 | ** The Gummie Bears are the remnants 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. |
| 392 | * In the commentary for ''Dog Days'', Creator/BillPlympton tells of how the French view his Dog Trilogy as a metaphor for George Bush, even though that wasn't his intent, nor does he even like to make political cartoons. |
| 393 | * ''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]]. |
| 394 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': |
| 395 | ** 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. |
| 396 | ** More commonly, sometimes trolling, sometimes not, Equestria gets analysed as a fascist {{dystopia}} under a CrapsaccharineWorld. Fans of this theory produce works with ''Trollestia'' at one time saving her 'people' from a rampaging monster, and the next she's positively dickish to her flock, such as [[http://ponibooru.413chan.net/post/view/3482?search=trollestia%20rarity Rarity's wings burning away in Sonic Rainboom]] being a direct result of her jealousy and powers. [[https://web.archive.org/web/20150107084319/http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?538353-Ponies-Ponies! This interpretation even shows up in games.]] |
| 397 | ** The episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E1TheCutieMapPart1 The Cutie Map]]", in which the villain rules over a {{dystopia}}n village of brainwashed ponies stripped of their individuality in the name of "equality", was welcomed enthusiastically by some right-wing and conservative viewers who interpreted it as a criticism of political correctness. To the point where a certain far-right author, partly for trolling purposes, encouraged his blog's readers to vote the episode into that year's MediaNotes/HugoAward as part of a campaign against the (alleged) left-wing bias of the awards. |
| 398 | * The ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' fandom on Website/{{Tumblr}} has compared the revelation that M'gann [[spoiler:is a white Martian by Psimon]] is comparable to forcing a transgender person out of the closet. |
| 399 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'': |
| 400 | ** There's at least a few fans that compare the Equalists' uprising to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Rebellion Taiping Rebellion]]. |
| 401 | ** Perhaps in smaller circles, but not unheard of, are the comparisons to the Occupy movement. A lot of the Equalist rhetoric has a similar ring, in any case (though there's really only so many ways one can preach that type of egalitarianism, and Occupy was hardly the first such movement). |
| 402 | ** 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. |
| 403 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Two Bad Neighbors" was merely inspired by Bush's public condemnations of the show during his time in office and wasn't meant to be a political attack on him. However, since UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush and Barbara criticized ''The Simpsons'' during its early years for contributing to the alleged downfall of society, a lot of viewers have stated that this episode had political undertones. |
| 404 | * The ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'' episodes "Lone Star" and "Galileo, Galileo!" may seem like liberal propaganda to some people, although clearly that wasn't the intent of the writers. This is a preschool show after all. In both of the episodes, Jet and Sean portray a scientist who had new ideas that he wanted to share with the world (Lone Star and Galileo Galilei), but they get rejected by society (The citizens of Boxwood Territory and the Catholic Church[[note]]In real life, Galileo did get rejected by the Catholic Church, but in the show itself, Sean just says that "other people" couldn't handle the fact that the Earth orbits around the sun, not the other way around. He couldn't specify that the people were the Catholic Church, otherwise the show might be in big trouble[[/note]]) because of it. In both of the episodes, the characters sing the exact same song about how you shouldn't be afraid of new ideas and how "old ideas ought to go so new ones can replace 'em". |
| 405 | * In 2001, the Daily Mail ran an article about how ''WesternAnimation/{{Binka}}'' is socialist propaganda because the titular cat has three owners (so he can have [[BigEater three meals a day]]). This was seen as prompting the concept of common ownership. |
| 406 | * Similar to ''Friendship Is Magic'', a ''massive'' [[https://www.newyorker.com/culture/rabbit-holes/the-repressive-authoritarian-soul-of-thomas-the-tank-engine-and-friends variety]] [[https://www.warmsodamag.com/culture/thomas-the-repressed-authoritarian-tank-engine of]] [[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jul/04/tyrannical-world-thomas-the-tank-engine reviewers]] have labeled ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' as having authoritarian or even fascist undertones. That being said, there have been [[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/11602184/Christopher-Awdry-why-sour-Lefties-are-wrong-about-Thomas-the-Tank-Engine.html defenders]] [[https://benjaminstudebaker.com/2014/07/27/leave-thomas-the-tank-engine-alone/ of]] [[https://www.nationalreview.com/2014/07/defense-thomas-tank-engine-charles-c-w-cooke/ the series]] who have called these accusations rubbish. Ultimately, it chalks down to a strange combination of ValuesDissonance and ValuesResonance, the former due to the age of the books on which the original series was based, and the latter because many of its [[{{Aesop}} morals]] still hold up even today. |
| 407 | ** On a smaller scale, when the episode "[[Recap/ThomasAndFriendsS1E16TroubleInTheShed Trouble in the Shed]]" was originally broadcast in 1984, the UK was going through industrial unrest during the Thatcher government. Thus, despite the original story having been written [[TheFifties more than thirty years prior]], and being set [[GenteelInterbellumSetting even earlier]], it may well have come across to some of the episode's first viewers as a bit of political satire on contemporary issues. |
| 408 | * ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'': While [[Recap/ThePowerpuffGirlsS6EP16SeeMeFeelMeGnomey "See Me, Feel Me, Gnomey"]] was written as nothing more than a pastiche of {{Rock Opera}}s like ''Music/{{Tommy}}'' and ''Music/JesusChristSuperstar'', many audiences interpreted the plot as an anti-Communist allegory thanks to the Gnome's red garb and his idea of a utopia revolving around making him the authoritarian leader of Townsville. The pro-RedScare interpretation became so popular that fans assumed that it was what led the episode to be banned. |
| 409 | [[/folder]] |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/context.php
FollowingContext Main / WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical
Go To
- Show Spoilers
- Night Vision
- Sticky Header
- Wide Load
