5 Books and Movies That Are More Political Than You Think

Is this email not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser](. [Shmoop University Inc.]( Hi Shmoopers, Election day is less than a week away, which means it's the time of year we all start asking "wait, what does the city council do, anyway?" If you're not the most civic-minded of the bunch, we suggest getting in the political mood, Shmoop style: through literature and film. 5 Books and Movies That Are More Political Than You Think . The Cat in the Hat [Dr. Seuss]( is always making a political comment (some of which are more offensive than others). And [The Cat in the Hat]( is no exception. Notice the color of, uh, [everything in the book]( Yeah, in 1957, [red = communism](. 2. The Lego Movie The Lego Movie kinda hits you over the head with politically-minded opinions. What those opinions are exactly is kind of [up for debate]( though. Is it pro-business? Anti-capitalist? Marxist? Just...awesome? 3. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Who said comedy can't be politically inclined? Oh—no one? Great. [The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]( seems to be one big commentary on government bureaucracy. It's not quite as on the nose as [Kafka]( but same idea. 4. The Wizard of Oz That [yellow brick road]( has been analyzed to death, but lots of people think it's a symbol of the financial gold standard and that the Emerald City is a corrupt Washington, D.C. Makes the whole "man behind the curtain" thing a little more fraught, eh? 5. The Odyssey Turns out the people in charge of the Western world have been disagreeing and starting wars since the beginning of...well, at least since the beginning of storytelling. The [Odyssey]( the [Iliad]( the [Aeneid]( all filled with [the gods upstairs]( using their whims to make life-changing decisions. Yep, they're politicians. Remember: every vote counts. At least that's what [12 Angry Men]( taught us. --------------------------------------------------------------- Quote of the Week "The tribe has spoken." ~ [Jeff Probst]( Our favorite kind of voting. Copyright © 2017 Shmoop University Inc., All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you registered as a user with good ol' Shmoop. Our mailing address is: Shmoop University Inc. P.O. Box 0935Los Altos, CA 94023 [Add us to your address book](//shmoop.us7.list-manage.com/vcard?u=373fbcef003d1c710e10416c5&id=affa322785) This email was sent by Shmoop. [Unsubscribe]( | [Update Preferences](