Analysis Of The Movie ' The War Room '

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The film The War Room is a documentary about Bill Clinton that has very little to do with Bill Clinton himself. The primary focus of the film is devoted to the team of campaign strategists that got Clinton to the presidency. The two main players the film focuses on are James Carville--the Lead Strategist for the Clinton campaign and George Stephanopoulos the Communications Director. The film follows them and their team of campaign strategists and experts as they try to get Arkansas Governor, Bill Clinton, to the presidency. The documentary highlights many key moments in Clinton’s campaign, for example the Gennifer Flowers scandal. However, the film showcases what was happening behind closed doors in the War Room, where Clinton’s…show more content…
The film captures the frenetic energy involved in campaign work and also the stress it can have. On of the things the film highlights is the emotional drain campaigning can have with the effort it requires and its highs and lows. They sit for hours trying to figure out the best strategies, and often just to deliberate which word choices would appeal best to the American people. The volunteers and strategists are seen at emotional stages throughout the film as the story of Clinton 's campaign plays out. Ultimately, however, their hard work pays off as, in the conclusion of the film they get their victory as Bill Clinton is elected President.
An idea explored heavily in the documentary is the role of media in Presidential elections. Newspaper headlines are shown throughout the film, showing where Clinton was in the race. Media is crucial in shaping public opinion in an election and a lot of the campaign strategies depicted in the film concern promoting positive media representation of Clinton. A tactic used to control the media was to try to dig up information on opponents in order to cast them in a bad light. The film shows the Clinton campaign dealing with the Gennifer Flowers scandal early in the film. Flowers, a model and actress, came forward during the 1992 election campaign claiming that she had a 12 year relationship with Bill Clinton. These allegations
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