In "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," a U.S. senator suddenly passes away, and Mr. Smith is tapped to fill the position. Unbeknownst to the honest, decent Smith, he is intended merely to be a puppet of the powerful forces that already control the state's governor and its other Congressmen. Smith collides head-on with these forces and must fight to save himself and his values from destruction in the public arena.
"Mr. Smith," directed by Frank Capra, is not meant to be very realistic. The basic plot and characters of Mr. Smith are borderline ridiculous. Smith goes beyond naive, to the point of appearing ignorant and lacking in common sense at times. He seems to have the civics education of a 2nd-grader. Everything in the movie is exaggerated to the extremes.
Capra's D.C. is likewise a caricature. The U.S. Senate is a united front of entrenched cronyism. They move as one nonpartisan mass, always supporting each other in their mutual corruption. The media is easily herded into line, an interpretation that probably strikes closer to truth, although that system today has been undermined by the Internet.
Still, if the true Washington is not quite as fraudulent as Copra's version, there's no doubt that it is probably perceived that way by many Americans today. The film touches upon real issues that affect modern politics. It's amazing how relevant certain lines and scenes remain after all these years, perhaps more so today.
What did bug me about the film was its shamelessly idealistic view of small-town American heroes like Mr. Smith. Like a Bruckenheimer movie where Billy boy and Jim Bob from the ranch save the planet, "Mr. Smith" sometimes comes off as a self-congratulatory pat on the back to the common man. It rails against the elitism and special interest of Washington, a popular sentiment today.
This might not bother me so much except that this country is just coming off an extended experiment of putting a "commoner" in a government seat of critical importance and things didn't turn out so hot. As nasty, cold, and dirty as it may seem to place a compromising politician into DC, that may be preferable to putting an "oh shucks, well, golly gee, I dunno" kinda guy into a position of major responsibility.
This country has a low tolerance for corruption. It has an even lower tolerance of incompetence.
"Mr. Smith," directed by Frank Capra, is not meant to be very realistic. The basic plot and characters of Mr. Smith are borderline ridiculous. Smith goes beyond naive, to the point of appearing ignorant and lacking in common sense at times. He seems to have the civics education of a 2nd-grader. Everything in the movie is exaggerated to the extremes.
Capra's D.C. is likewise a caricature. The U.S. Senate is a united front of entrenched cronyism. They move as one nonpartisan mass, always supporting each other in their mutual corruption. The media is easily herded into line, an interpretation that probably strikes closer to truth, although that system today has been undermined by the Internet.
Still, if the true Washington is not quite as fraudulent as Copra's version, there's no doubt that it is probably perceived that way by many Americans today. The film touches upon real issues that affect modern politics. It's amazing how relevant certain lines and scenes remain after all these years, perhaps more so today.
What did bug me about the film was its shamelessly idealistic view of small-town American heroes like Mr. Smith. Like a Bruckenheimer movie where Billy boy and Jim Bob from the ranch save the planet, "Mr. Smith" sometimes comes off as a self-congratulatory pat on the back to the common man. It rails against the elitism and special interest of Washington, a popular sentiment today.
This might not bother me so much except that this country is just coming off an extended experiment of putting a "commoner" in a government seat of critical importance and things didn't turn out so hot. As nasty, cold, and dirty as it may seem to place a compromising politician into DC, that may be preferable to putting an "oh shucks, well, golly gee, I dunno" kinda guy into a position of major responsibility.
This country has a low tolerance for corruption. It has an even lower tolerance of incompetence.