I understand that politics are exhausting, angry, divisive and corrupt, as the Pew Research Center suggested in a 2023 report. For many people I know, catching just a wisp of a conversation about partisan politics, immigration, healthcare, climate change or equal rights is enough to start friendship-shattering arguments or kill the vibe at a party.
Yet, whether we like it or not, politics affects every decision we make. It’s more than elections, scandals, yelling contests and wars. Politics determines the price of your groceries and health insurance, whether marginalized people feel included and safe to exist, how safe we are in our homes and the ability to keep dangerous people off the streets. In fact, a world without any political discussion will lead to isolation, ignorance and oppression.
This article’s headline of proposing the arts as a solution might offer you no reprieve. However, I’m not telling anyone to listen to their favorite artist’s political affiliation. I also don’t want to scar anyone’s perception of the arts.
I simply want to suggest that if you find yourself struggling to grasp poverty, Puerto Rican culture or the history of European colonization, you might want to listen to Bad Bunny. You might want to listen to “The Man” by Taylor Swift to get a perspective on gender inequality. The Christian bible is full of subjugation, slavery, philanthropy and empathy.
Regardless of whether we think about it, all the media we see conveys a message, from sculptures, paintings, drawings, photography, literature, film or musical theatre.
George Orwell’s “Animal Farm,” Suzanne Collins’s “The Hunger Games” and Lois Lowry’s “The Giver” bluntly portray dystopias in which creativity and liberty are stifled in favor of propaganda. The citizens believed that letting a few knowledgeable people control everything would create a perfect society.
Other artists might try to advocate for change through vibes rather than words. For example, the Vietnam Women’s Memorial honors the 11,000 women who served and the eight who lost their lives in the Vietnam War. My favorite fact about the memorial is that people leave hair ties on the ground nearby as a silent homage to those who died serving their country. Political engagement doesn’t have to be through protests or donating to campaigns.
“Washington Crossing the Delaware” is a renowned painting depicting George Washington and his army retreating across the Delaware River during the Revolutionary War. American values are born from the survival of freedom and liberty in the face of tyranny.
Jacob Riis shifted the perspective on poverty in the early 1900s for “How the Other Half Lives,” a collection of photographs that exposed the living conditions in New York City. It garnered public sentiment and forced city officials to adopt better housing standards.
Other messages are really simple. Martin Luther King Jr. became the voice of a generation through his enchanting poetry, passion and perseverance. A sentence so simple as, “I have a dream,” resonated with his audience for long enough that he could tell them about belonging, peace, spirituality, anger, forgiveness and tenacity.
Film is probably my favorite category because the political undertones are often easy to hide, or ignore, amid action sequences and visual effects. For me, it enhances rewatchability by revealing another layer of the plot.
Star Wars, for example, is a simple good-versus-evil, swashbuckling space opera. However, while democratic norms dissipate, bureaucratic and authoritarian decisions are the catalyst for every plot beat. A bunch of rebels with no clear ideology use guerrilla warfare to fight space Nazi’s trying to subjugate all the non-humanoid societies.
According to George Lucas, the original trilogy is analogous to the Vietnam War, and the prequels were intended as a commentary on early-2000s politics. I love explaining how power feeds corruption and vice versa in the films, series and extended lore.
I would be remiss to forego musical theatre. Admittedly, it’s not for everyone. You have to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy it and get past certain stereotypes of the genre. Hamilton, of course, is a well known example of making history a mainstream topic. It combines something that might bore the average person with hip-hop and R&B.
There are so many types of art that if something makes you feel uncomfortable, bored or frustrated, consider looking at another medium instead. Sometimes it’s not the type, but the genre, author, plot, description or themes of a particular piece.
Art doesn’t just commentate on revolution, authoritarianism and inequality. It represents society as a whole. Art is empathy, culture and community just as much as someone else recognizing your struggles, celebrating goodness and denouncing injustice.
If you’re still unsure, I leave you with a simple suggestion: Be open-minded. Art is meant to move you. Furthermore, if it’s the manifestation of one’s desires, anguish or anger, why not create something that depicts what the world needs to fix? As the audience, we should respect the artist by investigating it and its environment as intended.
Choosing to ignore politics, the designer of reality, doesn’t make it go away like the monster under your bed. Your individual, blissful ignorance doesn’t mean the world will fall apart. However, be aware that it’s possible, and not everyone has such a privilege. Politics will gladly devolve into a real monster without your watchful eye.