Politics and Film

Students, citizens, and scholars are increasingly aware that films' stories and metaphors-'American Tales,' if you will-influence our perception of politics. Daniel Franklin's Politics and Film is a welcome contribution to our ongoing conversation about the evolving relationship between entertainment, art, commerce, and politics-and how this in turn affects the shape, style, and bias of our political attitudes and collective memory. Those who wish to connect the dots between the reel world of Hollywood and the real world of American political culture will find some serious food for thought in this engaging, entertaining book. -- Kevan M. Yenerall, Clarion University and co-author, Seeing the Bigger Picture: Understanding Politics Through Film and Television This is a fun book to read, hard to put down, and spiked with intriguing information that will be unfamilair to most readers. Students of all ages will love it. Political Science Quarterly It has become practically a national pastime to criticize Hollywood movies for their sex, violence, and ultra-liberal politics. But why are films like that? In this book Daniel Franklin enters the scholarly controversy about the sources of American film content. His conclusion, vigorously argued, is that film-makers are simply acting as good capitalists and responding to the audience. Because filmgoers are more secular and liberal than the population as a whole, films are more secular and liberal than they would otherwise be. -- David Prindle, University of Texas, Austin