-Social Reproduction- �allows us to predict the structural evolution of a social formation by a specification of the structure of conditions� It also involves the systematic dismantling and destruction piece by piece of the old societal forms.� (Lee)
�Forms of social life and of meaning constantly reproducing themselves through the acts of people. Further, Large-scale social change, as we shall see, always manifests itself initially as a crisis in social reproduction.� (Lee)
We can translate these ideas to the Contender with simply looking at the issue of women wanting equal rights in political power as men. For many years women have been fighting battles against sexist ideals, and have made a name for themselves in many political institutions. Senator Laine is simply fighting for her right to carry her right to practice her political beliefs in the next logical stage of power. The character Laine Hanson, like many women in real life is opened to ridicule and stereotypes from many male oppressors, in this case Shelly Runion. One of the major issues that is ridiculed is that Senator Laine eligibly had a sexual encounter with many men at one time. This sexual encounter was to be viewed at a deviant sexual act. The true issue that is brought to attention by senator Laine is simply that if she where a man and partook in these sexual acts not a single eye would have been batted. This is a powerful statement of the male sexual double standard. The issues that have been addressed and the workings of it�s debate in social reconstruction does have strengths for the reason that it �allows us to predict the structural evolution of a social formation by a specification of the structure of conditions� It also involves the systematic dismantling and destruction piece by piece of the old societal forms.� (Lee) I would like to then post a question. Seeing how we can see forms of revolution in our governmental system due to more minorities becoming involved with politics and slowly but surely the old minority ideal roles change, will a member of a minority ever achieve the highest level of political power?
I will for a moment approach this theory in a different way when relating it to The American President. Many women are president in this film, and most of them are in very high level positions, but they always have a man to answer to. The assistant to the president is a woman, one of the advisors to the president is a woman and they both answer directly to the president himself. Sydney has a superior who is a woman, but they both have to answer to another man. Each of these women�s roles have a lot of political power behind them, but they never in the role of the film achieve the same political or financial status of those men they work for. In terms of society in relation to the film it does suggest a form of social reproduction by giving the women characters such high powered positions, but they never achieve those positions? The image that is that women should simply accept there position in life and not dream or hope to find that poison or opportunity to achieve that goal of defeating a man in his own game.
�The characters�have already acquired the stability of natural self-understood forms of social life, before man seeks to decipher not their historical character (for in his eyes they are immutable) but their meaning.� (Engels)
�history is transformed into the irrational rule of blind forces which is embodied at best in the �spirit of the people� or in �great men�.� (Lukacs)
In the Contender an example of Lucas�s theory that can be found in the feud between Shelly Runion and Vice Presidential elected Mrs. Lane. Shelly Runion saw Senator lane as a threat to how many things are run in this country. The believes that he is working for the better of the �American People�. This example can also be placed in Marx�s theory of interactions between Worker and Capitalist, or rather Oppressor and oppressed. The role of Shelly Runion is to see to it that Lane Hanson doesn�t earn the position that she is so willingly and violently fighting for. If Lane Hanson makes her position in office, then who will try to achieve the next possible level in there social status? What effect would this have on the degree on false consciousness and class consciousness?
Each character In the Contender at some point in time speaks of the great things that the great things that men and women in the political world has done. They all speak of there own experiences of mediocrity and greatness in there�s and there colleagues careers. We can apply these points to Engels theory of how a person translates there standing in social life. Each of the senators, congressmen, representatives and even the president himself look deeply into the meaning of all of there actions and the historical value of what they are doing. This historical value is not in what they themselves have done but what the great leaders in the past have done. They accept where they are, and often timed do not ever think of how they came to achieve such a high level of power, not how there level of power effects those who are under them in the social structure.
In Wag the Dog each of the main characters know exactly where on the social latter they are located. They understand the strength of there power and will manipulate it in any way possible to achieve there planed results. They want to make there war and they will make it. It is never explained in the film why or how these individuals received the power that they have, but each of the characters do show that they have the experience to know that everything that they do and plan will be seen by the American public, but the process of which there product is made must never be known to the public. They with there understandings know that if they can manipulate the course of events than they themselves can manipulate the blind forces of the �American people�. They like many other forces in this country and government take this idea to the extreme. They present the public with a story that is bought into, and produce all kinds of activities that the public can in themselves partake in to help sustain the illusion. Some of the tools that the Mr. Brean, and Mrs. Ames uses are Inspirational songs, throwing old shoes in the trees in order to show support of the solder hero, and even the selling of merchandise to wear to show support of the war effort.
When the war ends and the illusion is needed to be sustained, then the manipulators of this scenario produce a physical container of all of the hopes and psychological meaning of the American People, Sgt William Schumann, A prisoner of the state for raping a nun. This man is presented to the American people as a warrior who was accidentally left behind enemy lines, and was given the story that he was tortured and fought off the enemy in a psychological level as to protect the American ideal. Instant hero, the very idea of the �great man� as a blind force.