October 23, 2012 11:31AM 

# Politics Is Better as Fiction 

By [David Boaz](https://www.cato.org/people/david-boaz) 

---

<a class="js-popover-trigger cursor-pointer popover-trigger" data-bs-placement="bottom" data-bs-trigger="click" id="popover-trigger"> 

SHARE 

</a> 

![Media Name: AllTheKingsMen-300x386.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/wp-content/uploads/AllTheKingsMen-300x386.jpg?itok=jMWSAMcW) 

If the season’s got you thinking cynically about politics and politicians, TCM has the movies for you. It’s running a series all this month called “[American Politics on Film](http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/499694%7C0/American-Politics-on-Film-Fridays-in-October.html).” You’ve missed classics like “A Face in the Crowd,” but there’s still time to catch “All the King’s Men” this Thursday night, about a Southern reformer who becomes corrupted by power, and “All the President’s Men” on Friday night, about an ambitious Westerner who was probably corrupt long before he got power. Also on Friday night: “Advise and Consent” and “Seven Days in May,” made from the great political novels of the 50s and 60s. Whatever happened to great political novels, anyway?

For movies about freedom, [click here](https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/liberty-movies).

##### Related Tags 

[General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics) 

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).