Movies & TV

The average American probably doesn't read political themes in media unless it's directly spelled out for them. They will however scan something as politically motivated if the protagonist is a woman, LGBTQ, or black.

When Americans do scan fictional media as political in its content, they will invariably read it as supporting their particular ideology. It wouldn't surprise me to hear chuds have an understanding of Avatar as expressing right wing ideology. They think The Matrix is right wing for God's sake.

Instead I think most Americans try to scan media as political outside its specific content, like they know actors express direct liberal values, so they assume the media itself presents liberal values because the actor is in it. Politics in America can't be expressed through the symbolic, because that entire field of expression has already been subverted to act in the interests of status quo capitalism. Things only seem political if they're expressed directly, in a clear voice, and literally.