Analysis of Political movie. Social Sciences Essay

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Analysis of Political Movie: The American President
Over the years, the line between information and entertainment has narrowed down. The representation of political issues in the media, and in particular movies deserves special attention. The popularity of films presents an opportunity to communicate political issues to the masses. Movies tend to reach more people compared to news stories and other public programs. Young media users, in particular, tend to focus more on entertainment programs and avoid other mainstream sources of information. Hence, movies with political themes have become common. Films offer an opportunity to use entertainment to communicate important political issues. Rob Reiner’s The American President (1995) is an idealistic representation of political issues.
The public opinion of the government is majorly based on the stories in the media. The media plays a critical role in setting an agenda for the American people. What the people know about their government is what has been published in the news sources. For instance, the main antagonist dismisses the President and cites an issue with his personal affair. The media takes advantage of the remarks and publishes criticism directed at the President. The affair with Ms. Wade leads to the fall of the approval ratings for the President (Reiner). In this case, the opinion of the members of the public regarding their government is determined by what they read in the news sources. The media plays a major role in changing the perception of the public on their President and hence the government.
The film demonstrates that the relationship between the people and the government is mainly emotional. It assumes that people relate with their government is a romantic-kind of a relationship. People do relate to the government based on what it has done only, but also on an emotional level. The film makes it vivid that President Shepherd is better than his opponent Bob Rumson. However, the film does not indicate what makes President Shepherd better Rumson since we are not informed of the policies ad visions of the opponent for the American people. Since Shepherd is well-educated and charming, the public appears to like him (Reiner). He also has the ability to tell stories about American history including those of the forefathers. Hence, people relate with President Shepherd better than his opponent who has none of these qualities.
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