About This Lesson
Watching a movie can be a fun way to teach government and civics, and Wag the Dog is an excellent choice for that.
Wag the Dog is the slightly absurd - and intriguingly plausible - story of a president who invents a fictional war to distract the public during a campaign. It is relevant in a lot of amazing ways, and even if the story is absurd elements of it are not.
Check out the link in the resources for the full guide to themes and discussion questions for teaching with Wag the Dog, but here's a quick rundown of three themes you explore with this movie: a) the role of the press secretary, b) trust in the media, and c) the relationship of foreign policy to politics.
It can be hard to get students to really understand the role staff play, and actually seeing it happen helps. In this case, you get to see the press secretary at work throughout the film.
The major theme of the film is whether you can trust what you see, and what is actually real. In today's era of "fake news," this takes on a whole new level of relevance.
There's also the obvious theme of conflict and foreign policy. In this case, a war changes the outcome of an election - even if the war isn't real.
For more government movies to use in your class, check out this list. Wag the Dog is only one option, but you might find something else in there that is more relevant or useful for your class.
