“Capra’s message in Mr. Smith is simplistic: a problem caused by bad men – not the fault of the system or its institutions- can be fixed by good men with the support of the people” (Haas et al. 116). The films is said to show both the positive and the negative aspects of politics and depicting the process that entails electing a senator. At the time that Mr. Smith was released, it was acclaimed by audiences for the simple reason that it reinforced the hope that good willing and kind hearted people can reach further than the most powerful ones who only seek more wealth and resources. However, politicians themselves were appalled that this movie could be shown in cinemas because they believed it was “exactly the kind of picture the dictator of totalitarian governments would like the subject to see” …show more content…
Smith Goes to Washington were later joined in the film history hall of fame by Orson Welles’ masterpiece: Citizen Kane in 1941. Although its political message was subtle compared to the previously discussed films, it involves corruption and the endeavors of mass media. CK also discusses the Spanish-American war and the Great Depression but its main focus is gutter politics or the use of a scandal against a political opponent and yellow journalism which according the New World Encyclopedia refers to a reference to journalism featuring scandal-mongering, or other unethical practices by news media and individual journalists. The message that Welles tried to convey with this piece is that reaching power tends corrupts people in some way and the reason behind corruption is always money but having endless amounts of money does not guarantee having the few things that truly matter such as safety and happiness. “This is an old message, but it was not so much the message that made Citizen Kane great as the way that message was conveyed” (Haas et al. 125). The film helped open voters eyes to the amount of influence the media can have in the way the viewer or reader thinks of a certain person. As expected, it received strong criticism from the press and even faced many sabotage attempts by powerful people from the media especially from William Hearst, a newspaper magnate, who the movie was supposedly based on. “CK marked an advance for political films