POLITICAL SCIENTISTS ASSEMBLE!

Goren Book

Examines the Politics of Marvel Movies

Goren is not the first Carroll professor to tackle an element of popular culture in recent years. Dr. Kevin Guilfoy co-edited the 2017 book, “The Americans and Philosophy: Reds in Bed,” which examined philosophical and moral questions raised by the storyline in a popular television series about two intelligence agents from the Soviet Union posing as Americans in the 1980s.

You expect political science textbooks to feature people like Richard Nixon, Huey Long, Richard Daley and Hillary Clinton. But Iron Man? Thor? Captain Marvel?

The latter three appear in a new book, “The Politics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe,” co-edited by Dr. Lilly Goren, professor of political science and chair of the department of history, political science and religious studies. Goren, one of more than two dozen scholars to contribute chapters to the book, gave an author’s reading at Milwaukee’s Boswell Books in February. Assistant Political Science Professor Dr. Patricia Rodda, who also authored a chapter, joined her.

We asked Professor Goren about the book.

Q Why should political scientists (or students, for that matter) study this?

A The original comic books themselves were political — they grew up out of WWII and the efforts to defeat Hitler and the Nazi regime. So their initial creation was one that captured American engagement with our enemies during this period. The movies and television shows are like other popular culture artifacts in that they can and do teach us about ourselves and our current cultural and political climates. The televisual MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) grew up in the post-9/11 period and definitely reflects that mentality and state of affairs. As we note in the introduction: “If we want to understand any society, including our own, we need to consider and understand the content of its popular culture, which is a product, a driver, and a crucial part of any society’s politics.”

Q Is there an overarching takeaway from this collection of essays?

A We noticed that as the MCU went on, the villains became more interesting and more complex—also highlighting real political problems that societies, countries, and individuals are facing, like global climate change, class stratification, etc. We also saw the attempts, sometimes lackluster, of the MCU to become more inclusive in the heroes and images produced across different MCU platforms. Even so, the record suggests that certain groups (LGBTQ+ community, women to a degree, etc.) remain more outside than inside the MCU.

Q Are you using the book in any of your courses?

A I have now used chapter two twice in my classes in Political Theory. And it has been a useful and welcome exploration of the racial contract idea, which we read about in Charles Mills’ work, and then see explored in Wakanda and Black Panther as analyzed by Heather Pool and Allison Rank. I also zoomed into a colleague’s classroom recently, where he is using the book for the entire semester as the central text for the class. We had a great conversation about the MCU, nationalism, nostalgia and popular culture. I know of at least two other colleagues at different universities who are also using the book as the centerpiece of their classes.

Q Are you planning another volume?

A YES! It is currently underway. We are building on some of the initial work in the first book, but we have also compiled a survey to deploy to get robust input from citizens about their sense of the MCU and politics.