Civic issues find place on celluloid

Political films have taken center stage in entertainment in recent years. With high profile movies such as Fahrenheit 9/11 and An Inconvenient Truth as two of the largest grossing documentaries of all time, the new medium for communicating political ideology has experts wondering if film will be the way of the future.

Chair of the Department of Communication/Media Studies Joseph Tabarlet agrees that such movies are a sign that pop culture is being inundated with various ideologies.

“There are periods in film history in which you have highly- charged political films, and then there are periods when there are films that are largely apolitical or meant for entertainment,” he said. “Things tend to be politicized right now.”

As for Fahrenheit 9/11 and An Inconvenient Truth, Tabarlet said the documentary films have drawn large audiences.

“When a documentary grosses $20-$30 million at the box office, that is a magnitude more than other documentaries normally do,” he said. “If you compare them to other documentaries, they are ridiculously successful.”

Despite strong political commentary and a great deal of media attention, he said such films are not likely to dramatically sway viewers’ votes on Election Day.

“I think everybody is aware, or they should be, that there are at least two sides to every story,” he said. “People choose and seek out ideas that they feel comfortable with. A lot of the people who are going to see the films already agree with them, and I’m not sure that they are going to change anyone’s mind.”

Senior biology major Jennifer Parsons said she is careful to judge film content with some objectivity and an understanding that the included facts may be skewed. However, she believes the surge in political films is a positive outlet.

“I think these types of movies are actually good because most people are not prone to watch the news or read the newspaper,” she said. “When they see things like that, it gets them fired up and thinking in a way. It polarizes people, but it also gets them acting.”

Though some think only about the big budget movies on the silver screen, short political films have been marketed on the Internet for years.

Junior business management major Thomas Umstattd believes the way of the future lies in short, free downloadable movies.

“GoogleVideo.com is breaking the whole political video arena in that documentary style. It is a whole new level,” he said. “Political undergrounds have been putting out videos for a long time that don’t get press attention because they don’t say things the press wants to get out.”

Tabarlet believes Internet video may be an excellent way for political candidates to reach young voters who are less likely to read their books.

“It would certainly reach the 18-25 age range that actually voted in far larger numbers in the recent 2006 elections than did in previous years,” he said. “Something on the Web might be a great way to reach them.”