Motion Pictures Impacting Politics

By Allayah Beamon

March 20, 2016 @ 6:30 p.m. PST

If you love to watch wonderful motion pictures, STOP and just think for a minute. Has any of them influenced me to act, do, or think a certain way? Has any of them changed my view about a particular social issue, and have I learned anything from them? These are vital questions we should ask ourselves as growing intellects and scholars.

If you haven’t already don’t waste your time by paying over minimum wage to a “London has Fallen”. Releasing in March 2016, starring incredible actors such as Gerald Butler, Aaron Eckhart, and Morgan Freeman, who are actors in it for a paycheck; simply neglecting the subliminal messages behind the film they are participating in.

“Have you ever stopped to think about the messages movies are sending to you and other viewers around the world, or are you just watching it for pure entertainment?”

Entertainment motives are great, but most movies we see like “London has fallen” influencing our decisions in politics.

With the upcoming Presidental election coming up it couldn’t have been more convenient for the makers of the movie to release this controversial movie to get voters to agree with the claims made by our presidential candidate Donald Trump.

This movie was based on a foreign Islamic and Muslim country attacking London and kidnapping the president of the United States. Without too much thinking one can already see that the plot is telling a message that foreigners are dangerous, terrorists who want to invade and destroy our nation.

Donald Trump plans to ban all Muslim and Islamic people from entering America if he wins office and that is because he associates the tragic attacks on America with people of the Islamic culture. It’s extremely sad that he can place blame on all of them, out of fear. And with movies like this to support his claims, it’s only persuading voters to agree with his plan because of the influence and fear that has been inflicted upon them.

The main logic of movies is to entertain but the deeper motive is to evoke emotions that are stemmed by their ability to persuade, inform, influence and bring about change and awareness. 

So, next time you sit down to watch a film always remember the entertainment is the blinding light to the transparency that each movie carries within. There is a deeper message in every film that connects to something that has previously existed, presently existing, or will exist in the future. Don’t be so consumed in the entertainment pay close attention to what you learn, hear, feel, and grasp from movies you watch. I would call it be an active movie goer.