Seeing the Bigger Picture: Understanding Politics Through Film and Television- Second Printing (Politics, Media, and Popular Culture)

By Mark Sachleben and Kevan M. Yenerall

Film and visual images are major components of modern society that can add to our understanding and appreciation of the political process in contemporary America. From silent films to twenty-first century blockbusters, from Bugs Bunny to The Simpsons and Star Trek , movies and television provide windows into political history and inform our perception of politics and political institutions. Seeing the Bigger Picture examines ways film and television can be used to foster a deeper understanding of the political dynamics that shape our world. Discussing both commercial films and documentaries from the United States and abroad, this book illustrates the wide-ranging relationships between film and politics. It offers suggestions on how to use film to perceive the dynamics of ideology, the American presidency, civil rights and social justice, campaigns and elections, war, peace, terrorism, and other contemporary debates. Employing film as much more than pure entertainment, this book reveals how movies and television can be invaluable and exciting tools to explain political concepts and to demonstrate the relevance of politics in our daily lives. This is an excellent comprehensive text for students in film and politics courses and a creative resource for survey courses in political science, American government, and international relations.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0820462489
• ISBN13: 9780820462486
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publishers
• Length: 337 Pages
• Weight: 0.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 0.8" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

A must read!

Considering there was only one short review on this excellent book, I thought it would be helpful to give a better description. Upwards of 200 films are discussed, with much less focus on television. About five episodes of the Simpsons is covered, which the authors feel to be a good place to find social and political commentary. About half of the book is a summary of films and the others half is a mixture of how the films reflect the thoughts and politics of the time. One of the things that I truely enjoyed was that the book was neutral on politics, which is very rare when reading on the topic. The first few chapters cover early films that support or reject ideologies such as capitalism, communism, and fascism. The section on Red Scare films was quite interesting. Next the presidency is considered. In general the authors note that the president was nearly always presented as a hero in films before the 90's, after which there were several films that portrayed him as a villian. Could the end of the cold war be an explanation? Civil Rights, Social injustice, election and campaign films are next to be covered. War is another topic that is taken from all perspectives. Films that promoted war efforts and those that see it as destructive are give equal evaluation. A must read for anyone interested in the interplay of Hollywood, politics and culture.

The Bible, Origin of the Species, and now this book

A truly great work of amazing scope and impact. I will never forget what I've experienced in these pages.