Bending Fiction Into Propaganda
Right-Wing YouTube’s Attempt at a Subtler Touch
Every work of fiction I’ve ever loved, old or new, has at some point sent me to YouTube with an insatiable craving for video essays that break down the work’s worldbuilding, characters, tropes, and politics, opening discussions and diving ever-deeper into the intricacies of the stories that resonate with so many audiences. My current Avatar: The Last Airbender kick, fueled by nostalgia and my recent rewatch of the series, has proven no exception. As I devoured what must have been dozens of video essays that ran the gamut from the geopolitics of the Earth Kingdom to the big-picture importance of Prince Zuko’s character arc, YouTube’s suggestion algorithm caught on to what I was looking for and began ladling Avatar content directly onto my homepage for immediate consumption.
Enter this video.
You’ll be quick to note something that sets this particular piece apart from your usual cartoon hobbyist geeking out into a camera: the channel name, not that of a person or creative studio but of a think tank specializing in real-world politics and economics. “Foundation for Economic Education” happens to be a sufficiently neutral name that nothing about it nor the video’s equally hazy title clearly broadcast what sort of political thesis it would present, so it was up to…
