How does The Manchurian Candidate portray McCarthyism? What are Johnny Iselin’s gender, sexual, and political characteristics?
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Alexander Giles
The Manchurian Candidate portrays McCarthyism as an absurd and ridiculous movement that was based entirely on falsehoods. The film essentially is making fun of McCarthyism all together in a satirical and comedic fashion. According to Tony Jackson, the film describes McCarthyism as “a kind of public hysteria” and a “distinctly negative and shameful page of American history.” Iselin is generally portrayed as a drunken fool. One who is certainly incapable of carrying out such absurd accusations against government officials. One particular scene shows Iselin drunk, dressed in an Abraham Lincoln costume doing limbo at a party. This scene cleverly uses the limbo slogan of “how low can you go” to suggest the McCarthyism represents the lowest of the low in American politics, and that there was no room for destructive figures like McCarthy in American government. During his first scene in the movie, Iselin is loud and obnoxious when calling out over 200 communists within the state department with no evidence or proof backing up his claims. This scene exactly mirrors the famous McCarthy hearings where he wildly accuses with little evidence. Overall, Iselin and McCarthyism are portrayed as reckless and foolish throughout the entirety of The Manchurian Candidate.
The Manchurian Candidate portrays McCarthyism as an absurd and ridiculous movement that was based entirely on falsehoods. The film essentially is making fun of McCarthyism all together in a satirical and comedic fashion. According to Tony Jackson, the film describes McCarthyism as “a kind of public hysteria” and a “distinctly negative and shameful page of American history.” Iselin is generally portrayed as a drunken fool. One who is certainly incapable of carrying out such absurd accusations against government officials. One particular scene shows Iselin drunk, dressed in an Abraham Lincoln costume doing limbo at a party. This scene cleverly uses the limbo slogan of “how low can you go” to suggest the McCarthyism represents the lowest of the low in American politics, and that there was no room for destructive figures like McCarthy in American government. During his first scene in the movie, Iselin is loud and obnoxious when calling out over 200 communists within the state department with no evidence or proof backing up his claims. This scene exactly mirrors the famous McCarthy hearings where he wildly accuses with little evidence. Overall, Iselin and McCarthyism are portrayed as reckless and foolish throughout the entirety of The Manchurian Candidate.