Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Essay Example

Mr. Smith goes to Washington tells the story about a man, Jefferson Smith, who is appointed as the United States Senator. Mr. Smith’s personality can be described as an individual who is extremely optimistic about everything. Of course, he takes this kind of personality all the way to Washington, but he soon finds that there are a variety of shortcomings to working in politics. This is evident by the manner in which Smith’s own mentor, Joseph Paine, who turns out to be another Senator, puts in his best efforts into ruining Mr. Smith’s plan.

Despite the fact that Mr. Smith has wholeheartedly good intentions to change the way things are run, he finds that things are much more complicated that they initially seemed. Because of this, he finds it urgent that he submit his case to the Senate floor. Although Mr. Smith’s plan, which is to build a a boys campsite is noble and full of good intentions, there are a variety of people who do not agree with him, including Senator Joseph Paine. Throughout the movie, a lot of the problems in politics today are exemplified. Not only that, but it is easily portrayed how there are some people in politics who are willing to go the extra mile in order to be able to actuate change within society.

It is without a doubt that if Mr. Smith would have been in modern day politics, he would have most probably been ignored. This would be due to the reason as to how there is so much corruption in politics today. I believe that if Mr. Smith would be placed a Senator in the real world, almost all of the people around him would have an attitude that can be characterized much like Senator Joseph Paine’s. This is because, in politics, incentives for people to do things usually revolve around money. Seeing as how Mr. Smith’s plan to build a campsite for boys would not bring in a lot of money for individuals in politics, then people would invariably not support the cause. If, however, the boy’s campsite were able to somehow give a return of profit to the people involved in starting the campsite, then it goes without saying that there would be a lot of people willing to get involved with the building of said campsite.

I believe that the movie can be compared to politics today because in this modern world, there are multiple people who would be more than willing to go the extra mile in order to be able to actuate a positive impact in society. This is evident in many of the courses of action taken by individuals such as the President of the United States of America, whose aim is to improve society for the better. However, on the other side of the spectrum, there are many people who just join politics in order to fix the economy in their own favor. What this means is that all courses of action that they undertake is so that they are able to make a profit in a minimum amount of time. It is individuals like these who would turn down Mr. Smith’s proposal to build a boy’s campsite. Moreover, it is individuals like these that hinder politics today from being able to maximize its potential and hinder it from truly becoming a country that is supposed to serve all of the individuals within it.

If and when negative individuals like these are removed from any involvement of politics not only in this country, but in the world today, it is then that the world will be able to become a much better place. Consequently, certain courses of action much be taken in order to see this kind of change take place.