How popular media depicts modern day politics

Natalia Lizack

Nov. 21 2024

Many forms of media we consume daily alludes to themes having to do with the world of politics. Whenever something is created and brought to life fictionally, creators tend to always have a meaning hinted throughout their story that ties into the real world. 

The themes not only aid to the plot of stories within these media forms, but additionally bring viewers in to further analyze their works in which the story portrayed is more than what meets the eye.

One of the first, and newer forms of media is the video game, “Mouthwashing”. The video game released in September of this year, has taken over consumer’s minds recently.

“Mouthwashing” follows the story of five crew members working for the company Pony Express on a freighter spaceship that one day mysteriously crashes. Leaving them stranded in space, the crew is left with a severe lack of supplies and a captain that was left mutilated after the crash. 

Majority of the time you play as Jimmy, one of the crew members of the ship. After the ship crashes, they decide to open up their cargo holder to  utilize whatever they had on the ship. Shocked, the crew was not met with what they expected, as every single box they were carrying on this ship only contained bottles of mouthwash.

Without spoiling the rest of the plot and the insane events and twists this game’s story has to offer, the game itself covers topics having to do with capitalism.

Let’s speak on the idea of the company, Pony Express. The company puts the crew members to live on a ship in horrible conditions. The ship is run down and they have low quality food, and it continues to neglect their employees. 

Specifically when speaking on the mouthwash, the company seems to care more about what products they carry and whether they are getting delivered safely, versus their employees safety on the ship.. We see this lack of safety with the lack of locks present aside from the cockpit and medical bay. 

It’s jarring to hear how the company is an unreliable and cheap shipping service, yet all employees have to deal with these circumstances that eventually lead to unfortunate events due to the company’s lack of safety and precaution.

When it comes to themes of capitalism with specific characters, Jimmy is the definition of self-interest, a key characteristic in capitalism. He acts in the pursuit of his own good: getting the job done and not caring about what others feel. He thinks that if he gets to the same level as Curly, the captain, he won’t be held as responsible for his actions from climbing that corporate ladder and gaining that higher title. 

“Rules made from the top leave them exempt,” is something that Jimmy follows, thinking that when he climbs the ladder to get to that top what he did would go away and he would never deal with the repercussions of his actions.

Jimmy’s thoughts on Curly show throughout the story. For example when Curly gets news of the Tulpar crew being laid off and how the company is going under, Jimmy states how Curly will be “headed for bigger and better,” because of how well off he is from his high position as captain.

Anya is a character that deals with the effects of men under capitalism. A common phrase in political theory  used to describe the situation between the characters in this game is “man to man is wolf”. Capitalism is what forms the situation that lets these wolves be able to thrive and feast, the main wolf in this story being Jimmy and one of the main victims being Anya. This was all caused by the conditions that Pony Express put them under. The company let this wolf on the ship and lack of safety from that wolf leads to no protection against him.

“No longer to each other are they human, but only their job.”

Each character becomes stripped from being a human to becoming only their titles. Curly becomes known as “the captain”, Anya becomes “the nurse”, Daisuke is known as “the intern” under control of his “boss” Swansea. They are all valued in their abilities to perform their jobs and not their personalities.