Homer Simpson Goes to Washington

In this informative and entertaining essay collection, Foy largely succeeds at breaking down the “artificial barriers” between American politics and popular culture. Referencing films, television programs and other forms of mass entertainment—from Bob Dylan song lyrics to Dave Chappelle’s show—as a lens through which to view abstract political ideas and teachings, each chapter breaks down a specific aspect of American government. Particularly illuminating are the essays distilling Hobbes and Locke’s “social contract” theory through the dystopian eye of the Wachowski brothers’ V for Vendetta and the world of political lobbying through Jason Reitman’s satire Thank You for Smoking . For every fresh insight, however, there exists a simplistic summary of an overly examined film—Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington , for example—that dulls the collection, as do the essays that only peripherally link entertainment subjects to their intended ideas. Overall, however, Foy has compiled an energetic assortment of analyses that convincingly argue that an interest in popular culture can counterbalance the growing tide of political apathy in the United States. (Aug.)