Political topics in comics/novels?

[indagold]

Politics in a story can make or break it and a lot of times it breaks it. I think a lot of people don't understand how to world build and somehow work commentary into it let alone even putting themselves in other characters shoes to avoid straw manning. You gotta separate your views from your work at some point and understand what you're making has to stand on its own even if it shares some of your opinions

I think you gotta look at a story and realize how this fits into their universe rather than just turn it into a political cartoon. Make it work for the story and approach it very subtely. Don't start in with characters just immediately slamming discourse right and left like a debate. Have the world fit into it, the plot and character's motivation: maybe one character loves this character but they have very wildly different beliefs and its hurting their relationship and paint both characters with valid reasons why they feel that way then just making it one sided "i'm right, you're wrong". A lot of it is just figuring out what works in a realistic setting.

[DokiDokiTsuna]

I think politics, like any theme in a story, works best when it looks effortless. You shouldn't add it on top of a story that didn't really have much to do with politics to begin with; it should grow organically from characters whose lives already have political context.

Maybe your character is a politician, or a crime lord who has politicians in his pocket. Maybe they're a rebel trying to overthrow the current government, or someone who lives in fear of it. Or, the old tried-and-true, maybe they're a member of an alien race that's been subjugated for centuries and has finally decided they're not gonna take it anymore.

The second thing to remember is to always create that context. There shouldn't be a "politics chapter" in your story, or one giant political monologue that covers everything. Politics is everywhere, so if it's important to your characters, you should work it into every aspect of their lives. Show, don't tell. Maybe they got shoved by a police officer when they were just on their way to work. Maybe a love interest refused to date them after hearing their last name. Maybe a relative made a catty remark about "the other race" in casual conversation. If a political monologue does happen, creating context for it ahead of time will make it feel more natural.

[Zhengo]

I think it boils down to if the political topics are a natural result of the plot and world building. Most attempts to insert political topics into a story fail because they don't make sense in the context of the characters, plot, and setting.

For an example, someone before me mentioned Legend of Korea and I also have to point out that in the comics, there's a part that addresses homophobia in different nations, but the implementation makes no sense in the world building. There's no context as to why homophobia would exist. It's not like there was a sacred text demonizing same sex relationships, and historically there were civilizations that were accepting of homosexuality where no such text exists.

Another thing is that usually the main character is used as a mouthpiece by the writer to voice their own political opinions, regardless of whether it is in character. It's especially glaring if the world is built to have opinions against the writer's view but the MC right from the get go is supportive of the writer's view despite being raised in a setting where he should have developed views against the writer. Maybe instead, have the character's political views change over time and such as a part of their character development. It's a shame that writers don't try to use character development more to discuss political topics.

Also on the world building, if one wants to make a setting that's used to address some political topic, actually make sure that the world can actually suspend disbelief without falling apart if you think about it for more than one second. Take the recent Detroit: Become Human. It's obviously addressing prejudice towards different groups of people, but alluding to real world instances of discrimination falls apart when you consider logistics and design of some things when you replace real discriminated people to androids. Example: why would androids only be allowed to stand in the back of the bus? Design-wise it’s not really an efficient use of space, and since they’re machines they should be able to do some weird tech stuff where they can fold into a more compact size.

Basically, make sure your politics make sense in the story, it should feel seamless, and not shoehorned in.

[sarrowsmith10]

Just like any plot device, political topics need to be relevant to your story. In my fantasy comic, politics are relevant because its a succession to the throne type of story, however I'm not really making a commentary on that political system because a commentary doesn't add anything to the story.

However in our Science Superhero comic VSEPR, the good guys are renewable energy lab techs working for a biofuel company while the villain owns an oil company. It very much is touching on something current in our political world and a topic that is relevant to me as a creator, as I work at an environmental engineering and tech lab.

So, if the political climate is important to your story, then keep it. If its not, it just comes across as preachy and irrelevant.

[shazzbaa]

In every story, your worldview will shine through. When the protagonist decides to show mercy to the evil guy, you as the author will decide if that was a naive mistake or a brave and powerful choice. When the protagonists are framed for a crime, you as the author will decide if they can work within the system to prove their innocence or if the system will only screw them over more. And what you believe about the world and about people will impact and inform those choices.

I think sometimes we call things "politics" that are inherently part of a person's story. A black creator writing about racism isn't "being political" necessarily -- he might just be writing about his own experiences. My experiences of struggling to find and keep friends and work out my feelings about that boy I kind of like won't be labelled political, but his experiences of the same darn thing are going to be seen as "political" because racism is a part of every piece of his life.

I also think this is super subjective. Media that you disagree with is going to feel much more "political" than media that matches your own worldview, as the casual assumptions the story makes clash with your view of how things work on a basic level. Something that feels "too political" to one group might feel like "a good story" to another. Which also means that the more overt you are, the narrower your audience -- a story about a frog falling in love with a toad when this is forbidden by frog law is gonna resonate with most folks on some level, but a story about a lady from a conservative household falling in love with another lady immediately cuts out anyone who's not on board with LGBT+ rights.
But sometimes like.... that's the point? The point is not to make your story something that literally everyone can agree with, the point is to communicate the thing you wanted to say, to explore the experience that you wanted to explore, and to share your feelings.

One of the reasons I love Jesus Christ Superstar more than any other passion story (despite it being less like... theologically consistent with the teachings of my faith than most other versions) is actually that it made the story political... and in doing so, made the whole story more human.

That said, I do think it's easy for stories with political themes to fall flat when they're about someone else's story, a story that's foreign to them. Like, writing an on-the-nose racism metaphor when you've never really run into racism is gonna feel off somehow. On the other hand, a story about the rise of fascism and the corruption of the youth sounds extremely preachy and political, but someone writing that story because of their own horror of watching their friends fall into an ideology that makes them different, less kind, more afraid -- that's going to be a very human story.

Politics are in everything, so it's only natural for some stories to have them -- and some stories will have A LOT of them -- but no matter what, if your story doesn't come from inside you, it's not going to ring true.

[lil-sea-salt]

I'm a bit confused here what you mean about political commentary. Are you referring to the politics discussed in a comic like an election, racism, privilege? Or do you mean commentary on news in the real world.

I think if politics is discussed as a vehicle moving the story forward its fine. I know not everyone is a fan of a star wars prequels, but I really enjoyed seeing the bad guy manipulate everyone. Also game of thrones does an excellent job of this. My favorite characters are Varys and Little Finger who always have something up their sleeves and it's interesting to see the planning and final result.

I think it was not well done in Hunger Games. I just got annoyed with the whole machine. I hated the politics as it just served to wipe the relationships clean. The plot didn't really make sense to 13-14 year old me.

[MissionFailure]

Politics are a tool for progressing the story plot or challenging/growing the characters. It can be done amazingly well and amazingly bad. I for one, enjoy novels with a heavy focus on politics, but dislike it when I get walls of text in a comic. He's some questions that you can ask:

Wants

1. Does Politics affect what does this character wants?(doesn't have to be moral)
2. Does Politics affect what does this character needs?(doing the moral thing)
3. Does Politics affect how those wants and needs conflict with(in) the character?

Conflict

1. How does politics interact with the characters wants/needs and the outside world?
2. Does politics affect the characters interactions with other characters?

Change

1. Does the politics affect change/growth in your character or do they stay unaffected?
2. Does this growth or lack of growth have an impact on the other characters?

If the majority of answers is No, I'd say you might want to leave it out of the story otherwise it's going to feel very hamfisted and it may turn off readers. I've back out and stopped reading several comics because they 180'd or hamfisted politics, and I have no intent on telling the author 'why' due to the risk of it coming across as a personal insult versus the legit criticism it is. That's just how touchy politics are, and it's a risk you take with your readers.

Some methods on including politics without Walls of text

1. Instead of having the viewer see the entire political exchange, have a character sum up the topics discussed in their POV to another character
2. Show the non-violent actions that take as a result of politics (IDs/paperwork, commerce taxes, more/less security, and so on)
3. If characters must discuss politics for conflict, don't have them go into the details, just to the major points they're decided on.
4. When in doubt, go watch a political anime and pause/study the points where politics are covered. FMA and Gundam are super politics heavy, yet manage to still have lots of action and keep viewers engaged. Seeing where they cut off discussions between episodes, how they don't go into the nitty-gritty of the politics, discussing it in short convos during fights, and sometimes use full on silence to allow viewers to see tension/thinking are good references for comics.

[lunaartemisasama]

I think it depends of the story and the context . Ask yourself Does the reader need to know everything? Is it essential to the story? How can I show it? things like that. And is up to you how much you want to show about it, in an intimate way or a more extended one.

[punkarsenic]

On the other hand, a story about the rise of fascism and the corruption of the youth sounds extremely preachy and political, but someone writing that story because of their own horror of watching their friends fall into an ideology that makes them different, less kind, more afraid -- that's going to be a very human story.

(emphasis mine)

this!

In the end, all stories are about human nature, and a great political story will dig down to the core humanity of a 'political' story so that it resonates with anyone. that's effective storytelling in general, and how to effective get a message across within storytelling.

[Jenny-Toons]

I feel you can make subtle political statements when you include controversial topics in the context of your work and focus on the results and interactions of those topics rather than preach about them.

For example, the series I'm working on deals with cult behavior in the US. If you've read about cults in America, you'll have seen the results of them and how people politically and socially interact with them (mostly negative).

The story itself is based on cosmic horror, but there is a political look because of cults and how people react to them.

It's all about the topic you use and how the characters interact with it.

[DiegoPalacios]

Make sure to not fall in the straw man fallacy:

"A straw man argument is one based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position. To 'set up a straw man' or 'set up a straw man argument' is to describe a position that superficially resembles an opponent's actual view but is easier to refute, then attribute that position to the opponent."

This link has a definition and show examples of distorting the words of the oposing side.

Strawman Fallacy - TV Tropes

This link show the different kind of fallacies that rely in showing the other side as an exagerated version without adressing the current arguments.

The War on Straw - TV Tropes

[Progg]

I'm a bit confused here what you mean about political commentary. Are you referring to the politics discussed in a comic like an election, racism, privilege? Or do you mean commentary on news in the real world.

I guess I hadn't really thought about what I mean, but basically any content that is intended by the author to illustrate, comment on or make a statement about a political issue. What constitutes a political issue is obviously a long and complicated discussion, but the answers I'm seeing are very much relevant to what I had in mind. To me, all the things you mentioned count as political content.

[nelaukface]

I think politics affect the stories people write one way or another--as silly and migraine inducing it is, it is essentially a force of nature, and can quite literally affect the way we live.
but obviously you're talking about works with overtly political themes. well, personally, I'm completely fine with it! the beauty of fiction is that the sky's the limit. why should politics be left out of it? at best, political themes can really enrich a story and make it feel more relatable to people. hell, it could even make them think and change their worldviews. at worst, it can devolve into a preachy pile of rubbish.
I'll pull out some examples of works that expertly infuse politics into their stories. the best one I can think of is Guillermo del toro's pan's labyrinth. it's basically a fairy tale about a young girl who might be the princess of a lost kingdom. this mysterious faun being tells her to do several dangerous tasks in order to reclaim her title, all of which put her or her family's lives in great danger. the main conflict therefore is about whether obeying people thoughtlessly is truly moral or not. pretty typical stuff, but the setting of the fairy tale is what really strengthens it. it takes place in 1930s Spain, during the civil war. fascism was the law of the land, and groups of anarchists and socialists were one of the many fighting against it. obviously the fascists are all about obeying authority no matter what while the anarchists are very much in the 'no gods or masters' camp. this ties in incredibly well with the conflict and moral of the fairy tale, and is an excellent way of having politics inform a fictional (in this case, a fantasy) story.
now, a bad example would probably be family guy, lol, and more specifically Brian griffin. he's nothing more than a mouthpiece for the creator's views and doesn't really have any character beyond that. he comes off as preachy as worst and boring at best. don't be like family guy basically lmao
I guess i'm feeling pretty passionately about this cause the comic I'm working on rn ends up dealing with political stuff. it takes place in the 80s miami and deals with organized crime and law enforcement. so obviously, the war on drugs, the unrestrained capitalism, class and race, whatever people read into it, blah blah blah. I think in many ways it makes for an exciting story, cause those themes are pretty interesting hahaha!
so yeah, I think political themes are Good, but it all depends on how you infuse it into your stories. always remember that's there's a fine line between subtle and preachy!

[Spikings]

The thing is, politics will always influence the characters and story, even if it's not a part of the story itself. I don't think you can have a story that's too political, only a story with political commentary that's badly written. If the politics don't fit the situation, or feel shoehorned in, or the characters aren't at all affected by it, then why have it there? But if it contributes to the story as a whole, then go for it!

I know my comic will have some political themes in it as it progresses, but it's more of a side-arc that boosts the main one, so to speak.

[Pan]

I'm working on my entry for the new writers camp, and it's about a new king, so it has to have some degree of political undertones!

I've never written something like this before, but I'm trying keep the actual political aspects fictionalized and dependent on the world, to avoid angering people that may either agree or disagree with the characters' opinions...

Am I fighting a losing battle? XD I really want it to be interesting, but I know I personally am not a fan of reading about politics, so my hypocritical side is angry with me...

[hjfsdh2222]

Anything is fine if you do it well.

I feel if you do comedy, if you are going to involve politics you need to do it with consistency. I. E. You cannot have a comedy about slice of life things and then just suddenly throw in political messages.

I feel if you do drama. You either have to go all the way with the political message, or not at all. But I feel the best way is when you can naturally fit in a political message. Life is politics in a way right?

[Luminosophy]

I feel for the most part, it's easier to enjoy when the politics are written in as in-world and relevant/ useful to the plot. You can be very subtle and create some interesting analogies to current world events, or even historical if you like. Where people trip up pretty much all the time is when they use characters as their personal mouthpiece and the opposing view is no longer a character/s anymore. It's just "the villain". Suddenly the world is extremely black and white, hearkening back to the old 50's superheroes that everyone is already tired of. If you absolutely refuse to research the other side and what logic/ experiences they used to arrive at their conclusions, no matter how twisted, politics really isn't going to be your strong suit. (It probably means you also didn't research the side you were trying to prop up as the 'good guys', either.)

[Progg]

Thank you all for your thoughtful and relevant replies! This will hopefully help me avoid the most blatant pitfalls of political commentary.

[Zaboem]

I see a strong history of political commentary in both prose and comics. Guliver's Travels reads better as Thomas Swift's satire of European political pettiness than as a fairy tale.

That said, I think it is not a topic suited for every story. Shoehorning political commentary into an established series has soured more than one comic. VG Cats was a fun and popular web comic about cats and video games -- until the creator decided to alienate half of his fan base suddenly with purposefully offensive comics featuring abortion jokes.

Don't even get me started on Cerebus the Aardvark.

[djwaglmuffin]

Art has been commenting on politics since time immemorial.

Even fantasy and sci-fi, two genres that SEEM as if they are not commenting on actual world facts, turns out to be a good way to talk to people ABOUT what's happening around you. Problem is: Sometimes the message gets lost and since art interpretation can be relative, not everyone is going to walk away understanding the same message.