Friday, May 30, 2008

Politics and Popcorn

So I've finally followed through on my interest in political films, and developed a mini-college course. To clarify, the course is mini, not the college. It's only three films, but lots of discussion and supplementary content. I'm actually pretty proud of this effort. We've seen the little-appreciated Sidney Lumet film, Power, and will watch Frank Capra's State of the Union and Barry Levinson's Man of the Year as well.

You should rent these films this weekend and watch them all. Tell me what you think of them. They show you everything you need to know to understand American politics. Okay, that's a lie. But they're still great! And they illuminate a bunch of stuff:
media manipulation by candidates, polling, interest groups' influence, campaign consultants, electronic voting flaws, celebrity factor...