Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was made in 1939 which was during the time World War II had begun. During this time period the government was going through all sorts of changes. We were still industrializing. In 1941, the U.S. entered the world war. After this our government suffered from a lot of debt. In the movie, Jefferson Smith was trying to get a bill passed for young boys to have a camp where they will remember their free country. The irony here was that after this movie was released the country no longer felt free. Throughout the movie we got to see the fictional, but realistic behind the scenes of how politics and how the government functions. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington shows very similar characteristics that our government portrays today with very few differences.
In the movie Jefferson Smith comes to Washington, D.C as a senator of his state and proposes a bill to the Senate. The bill was to create a National Boys camp about 200 acres from Willet Creek. On the other hand, Senator Joseph Paine alongside of Jim Taylor wanted to build a dam on Willet Creek, but it was a graft. Graft means for your own gain and basically corruption. When getting a bill passed they have to go through different channels. First you have to introduce the legislation, then there is a committee referral, committee consideration, committee consideration: the markup phase, committee consideration: submitting the report, scheduling debate, floor action and rules, floor action: debate & amendments, floor action: time to take a vote, agreement between the House and Senate, and the last step presidential prerogative. There are eleven steps on how a bill becomes a law. Therefore in Mr.Smith Goes to Washington, when Smith’s bill got passed both the Senate and the House would have to vote on it before it becomes it a law. What Paine did to Smith is an example of corruption because Paine was doing everything in his power to overthrow the voters to choose his bill instead of Smith’s. Paine said that Smith was trying to build this boys camp to make money for his own pocket, but it was the opposite. Another example of corruption and bribery was when Saunders said, “the Willet Dam is a graft to line the pockets of the Taylor machine. Taylor has bought off Congressmen for years and has systematically robbed the people…” (Mr.Smith Goes to Washington), where it showed us how a person of power uses their will for themselves and not the people they are serving. The media even uses their own power to print stories that might not even be true so that they can either help or hurt politicians. One of the differences in the movie was the page system because it consisted of little boys around the age of eight, but in today’s society they are both girls and boys who are typically in their junior year of high school. During the movie’s time period, men where the ones most of the time running the political aspect of the world. Another difference was in the Senate. Today both men and women from diverse backgrounds are in the Senate, but in the movie it was typically white men who had a seat on the floor. As time goes on American hopes to be completely gender equal. Towards the end of the film we saw Smith pull a filibuster. A filibuster is when an attempt by Senator is made to obstruct the passage of a bill, favored by the majority, by talking continuously. Smith talked for 33 hours straight to stop the senate from voting against his bill. Meanwhile many people were leaving, but it was against the quorum because at least 51 senators had to stay on the floor. This rule makes Senators stay which creates an successful filibuster. This was the most effective way Smith could use because it would exhaust the senate and make them give what Smith wanted. Pulling a filibuster was and is a very successful way in a legislative process that can get a bill passed. They even do this today. How I view government is that they are very secretive and corrupt like the movie. The government obviously can not share classified information, but at times it feel as if they only do things to benefit themselves like Pain and Taylor in the movie. The past couple years now the government is looking more unjust than ever. Even though in 1920 the 19th amendment got passed for women to vote seemed like a big milestone, but we still have gender inequality. We would think that if women got the right to vote everyone would see men and women as equal. As time goes on we hope that we will eventually become equal. As shown in the movie all the people who had a seat in the senate were white men. Today our senate is very diverse ranging from women of different races as well as men with diverse cultural backgrounds. We have never had a women become president and women still don’t have equal pay. This just shows how the government isn’t completely equal with everyone. When Smith was touring Washington he saw the Monument, the White House, Capital, Cemetery, Lincoln Memorial, and the National Mall. These are many significant figures and places that bring back many historical events that we still reflect about today. I feel that if our government was not corrupt it wouldn’t be a real government. We have one of the most strongest and immense governments and that is what makes us different than any other countries. I personally enjoyed the movie because we got to see a different aspect that was set in a different time period.This movie allowed us to see a fictional situation compared to how the government is today. I also enjoy movies with political and governmental backgrounds. Throughout the movie we got to see how Smith was portrayed as a boy when “politics is a man’s world” said by Paine. He ignored the brutal comments and conflicts while he was trying to live a normal life while being a senator. This showed me how this is a real life situation. Movies like these show us how the world came to be and how it functions with a bit of drama of course. Smith showed many people that if you believe in something that you should fight till the end. In the last scenes, Smith kept fighting and fighting for the National Boy’s Camp. At the end, he final had gotten the Senate’s vote and his bill was passed. Meanwhile, Smith also showed how corrupt people like Paine and Taylor should be retaliated against. Both Paine and Taylor wanted the dam to be built for themselves, to make money for their own back, not the greater good. Smith created a bill that would benefit the boys in this country. Although it was a bit sexist, this movie was made in the 1930. Women had just go the right to vote, but they were not fighting yet for complete equality. Lastly, Mr.Smith Goes to Washington is a great example on how our government functions.
This film is very significant because during the time this was published many people got to see truths behind their government and how things worked within the senate. It wasn’t a normal concept for a movie in the 1930s. Movies like this one are very popular today. We have much more TV shows and movies projecting their ideas on government which is most of the time is fictional truth. Nevertheless we have more protests and debates than every. Many people kept standing up towards the injustices of the government. These are problems that the government does not fix nor care for most of the time. The movies showed how Smith fought back towards the unjust bill Paine and Taylor were proposing. All in all, it might seem as if times have changed drastically, but in reality there have been only a few massive changes.