Cinema fields and voters: How our favorite characters reflect politics

Cinema fields and voters: How our favorite characters reflect politics

In an exciting examination, it was found that the political views of people are strongly influenced by their favorite film heroes. A survey in the United States and Great Britain showed that figures such as Gandalf are perceived as political allies from "Lord of the Rings" or Harry Potter, while villain like Darth Vader are more associated with the political opposite side. These results were published by a research team from Southampton and Vienna in the journal " Political Science Research & Methods "

The survey comprised 3,200 people in 2022 and showed a clear pattern: People with a strong political identity tend to classify fictional characters according to their own political beliefs. Heroes are increasingly identified as voters of certain parties, while bad guys are associated with the oppositional side. This phenomenon not only increases political division, but also makes people more susceptible to false information that confirms existing prejudices, as the co-author of the study, Turnbull-Dugarte. He emphasizes that the perception of heroes and villains is strongly shaped by one's own political beliefs and the reality is more complex than our prejudices suggest that critical reflection is urgently needed.
At a time when polarization and misinformation increase, this study could provide important information on the perception of political opinions and the role of popular culture, as the second source emphasized: "Gandalf and Harry Potter chose Donald Trump in the US presidential election?" These questions can help to sharpen the understanding of the political landscape and to illuminate the discrepancy between different political camps, according to GA.de .