Politics In Captain Fantastic

Captain Fantastic is the story of a father who raises his children in the woods separated from most of society. The father, Ben, taught his kids skills that would not be taught in school or learned in the typical American society. When Ben’s wife and mother of the children, Leslie, passes away the family feels obligated to fill their mother’s final wishes despite the push back from society and family members. They go on their mission to rescue Leslie and their lifestyle is forced to work in society. At first glance this may not seem like a political film but rather a film with scenes that involve the discussion of politics. However, the way in which the parties are portrayed is what makes this a political film. The intent of the film is also another reason that this movie is truly political. The first reason that this movie is political is that the viewer is for encouraged to sympathize with people that society typically others. Usually, families like this are often looked at as weird and their logic is dismissed as crazy. However, writer and director, Matt Ross first shows their life and makes the viewer think about how great this idea is. For example, the movie shows that the all the children are highly intelligent, in phenomenal shape, and gifted at
many different disciplines in life such as music, self-defense, and hunting. Then when Ben is visiting with Leslie’s family he uses his youngest daughter to point out the flaws with the public-school system in America. First, he calls Jackson and Justin downstairs and questions them on the Bill of Rights. Neither of them are able to answer the question correctly or with great detail. Then Ben asks one of his youngest daughters to come down. He asks here the same question about the Bill of Rights and she is able to accurately answer with great detail. To prove that she is not just reciting memorized information for these exact scenarios Ben asks more questions about events that the average 8-year-old would not know. She answers all of these questions perfectly until Harper tells her to stop. These scenes are made for us to question our society and think that maybe this other society has better ideas. Despite the fact that we begin to care for the family of societal outsiders the movie provides a certain image of these outsiders that would make a typical member of American society look down upon them. For example, when they enter the funeral the way that they are dressed is off putting to most. The contrast is created because everyone else in attendance is wearing traditional conservative funeral attire while Ben wears a red suit, one child wears a gas mask, and the rest wearing attire that society would deem strange for everyday use let alone a funeral. The style that the older children are dressed in brings up ideas of how hippies were portrayed. Hippies are often looked down upon by society because they are deemed as drug using counter culturists. So, due to that image people who are considered to be hippies are usually dismissed or not taken seriously. Ross portraying the protagonist as a hippie makes his intended message for this film harder to understand. Was this movie supposed to be in support of liberal or conservative views or neither of them?
The answer to that question is neither. The reason it is neither is because of how the movie ends when Ben and his children have developed a life that they are happy with and does not make them societal outcasts. They still have the rustic lifestyle that Ben wants but the children are now in actual schools where they can develop in a measurable way academically and socially. It also best helps them set up the future for these kids. This movie’s political intentions are highlighted by this scene because it is about the left and the right compromising. Take what is beneficial and make a better
solution. Sometimes in life it is not clear what is the right way to do something and in many cases, there is no right way for everyone to go about doing things. One example that this movie uses is parenting. Ben is open with his children to a degree that makes Harper and her husband feel uncomfortable because they believe it is sometime best to hide things from their children. This example highlights that there is no right way of parenting. Just like parenting there is no right way to go about looking at the world. There are countless types of political views that range from there should be absolutely no government to everything should be controlled by the government. However, the best solution lies somewhere in the middle where parts from each idea are taken and put together to form an ideal solution. Captain Fantastic does a great job showing that despite there being vast differences on either end of the spectrum both sides have good qualities. The political message is that polarization is not the answer but rather that most viewpoints have something to contribute to improving society so we need to be open to those ideas in order to grow and improve society.