Mr. Smith Goes to "Wewishthiswerethewayitwasville"

Jack Gustafson

There is a reason that Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is still shown in classrooms today. This reason is because of the undeniable optimism that is voiced through the character of Mr. Smith. Even as ridiculous and over-the-top as the acting in the film was, the audience still understood the basic premise of the story: Why can’t we elect people who are more like us?

Now, when the term “people like us” gets thrown around in United States politics, it tends to translate as “white and Christian (preferably protestant)”, but as much as Mr. Smith really was just like the rest of America, he at least made attempts to mention people of other races and creeds. There were at least two incidents where Mr. Smith directly referred to people of other races, and spoke on how they should receive the same rights; this was in direct opposition to what most people thought in 1939 (particularly in Montana).

From this, it seems as thought Mr. Smith Goes to Washington was years ahead of its’ time, even if the lone African-America in the film was portrayed as a soft-shoeing Sambo. Hollywood was definitely wrapped up in the racism of its’ time, but the character of Mr. Smith seems to make up for it.

I would have to say that the only thing that is outdated within Mr. Smith would be the technical aspects, and the race relations. Mr. Smith, as a politician, was not revelatory enough of what his political issues were, in fact nobody in the film was; there was never a mention of Democratic or Republican party anywhere in the film. I think that the story still holds relevant because the idea is that the little guy is fighting the big guys to do the right thing. Of course, the film is representational, not realistic, and from this we are able to seek the politics of the film unfold.