Political Issues In Casablanca

Political films in the 1930s and all the way through to the 50s addressed many issues regarding divergent racial, economic and social relations. Many of these were influenced by major event in the international arena. The film Casablanca, for example, was set in Europe during the late 1930s. One of the main issues at the time was the unrestrained spread of fascist ideology by force. The Nazi party that had taken power in Germany was making Europeans quite nervous. Casablanca was in essence a propaganda film meant to build up support for the American war efforts against the march of fascism and, somewhat amazingly, the love story that propels the narrative is absolutely essential to forwarding that propaganda. Even in the months leading up to the Pearl Harbor attack, by which time it had become even to the sternest isolationists that Hitler was a psychopath on track to become a threat of historic dimensions, and in

This film played a great part in educating and motivating people to speak out, rather than just being followers and bystanders. This is evident when the first vote is taken, and some hands “go up immediately”, whereas “several others go up more slowly”. People in 1950s America were more worried about expressing their own views and saving themselves than ensuring the course of justice wasn’t obscured. This is highlighted in Twelve Angry Men, by instilling fear in everyday citizens, and educating them on the significant impact their attitudes and actions can have on the legal system, and how they may corrupt it. Also, cultural factors are a huge impact on the process of justice, because it defied the sole underlying function of the system. The law is created to govern, not to undermine, and Twelve Angry Men uses economic, social, and cultural factors to portray this to the