Politics in Fictional Entertainment: An Empirical Classification of Movies and TV Series

• In Event: Entertainment Media and Politics

Abstract

This paper deals with the representation of politics in fictional entertainment. It presents conceptual considerations on the classification of the heterogeneous field of TV-series and movies according to their political references and introduces an empirical approach for measuring the constituent features. We argue that political representations in fiction vary along two dimensions: political intensity and degree of realism. These dimensions encompass four indicators each relating to characters, places, themes and time. Content analyses and cluster analyses were employed to identify the internal structure of the field. The indicators were coded for a sample of 98 TV-series and 114 movies. Cluster analyses showed four clusters of series and six clusters of movies. “Non-political fiction”, “thrillers”, and “fantasy” turned out to be central types in both series and movies. Movies, however, stand out through a greater diversity and a focus on the past that is reflected in three additional types.

Authors

• Cordula Nitsch, University of Duesseldorf

• Christiane Eilders, U of Duesseldorf