For my RCLII Passion blog I will continue to write about animated shows I’ve watched over the course of the pandemic and relate the episodes, concepts, or themes from these shows to contemporary social, political, or economic issues and topics. I look forward to writing about these shows in the coming weeks and I hope you all enjoy them!

The main cast of Clone High

After the January 6th Capitol riot, a plethora of corporations including JPMorgan, Coca-Cola, and Microsoft halted all PAC donations to Republicans and Democrats. This is a huge deal for candidates who receive corporate money. This is also a great example of how corporations have an unduly hand in our political system. The Clone High episode, “Election Blu-Galoo,” displays how corporations supporting candidates can be harmful to candidates and their constituents, but beneficial for the corporation. 

Clone High is a 2002 MTV sitcom about the clones of historical figures navigating high school. Each episode teaches a lesson or educates the audience about a specific issue based on the events of the episodes. The main cast includes the clones of Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Joan of Arc, Cleopatra, and Ghandi. In the episode, Abe is running for student body president against JFK. After entering the race, Abe realizes his chances of winning the election are small due to his unpopularity. To gain votes he signs a contract with a company called XStream Blu who tell him to perform injury-prone stunts to gain the approval of his class, in addition to promoting their unhealthy products. 

JFK vs. Abe Lincoln

The interests of corporations oftentimes supersedes the interests of politicians’ constituents because they are receiving corporate donations. In order to keep the money they are getting, they must pass policies that are favorable to their donors. Politicians should be acting as representatives for the individuals that voted for them. When they act as representatives for corporations it hurts our political system and the bond between the politician and their constituents. In Clone High, Gandhi tells Abe, “all you have to do is abandon your values,” in order to get elected. Although this was a joke, there are real world implications behind this statement. 

A 2020 Pew Research Center study indicated that 65% of US citizens felt that the government does not do enough to reduce the effects of climate change. There are a multitude of reasons why politicians do not respond to the threat of climate change, but one of the biggest is the oil and gas industry. In the 2019-2020 election cycle alone, over 67 million dollars were donated by the oil and gas industry to Political Action Committees (PACs) and by soft money donors (corporations and their affiliates mainly donate money through PACs or to parties). The oil and gas industry have done irreversible damage to the planet. Unlike Abe, who did not know that XStream products were harmful to its consumers, politicians know that many communities are negatively affected by climate change, but continue to overwhelmingly side with corporations over the people. 

Citizens United v. FEC (2010) granted corporations the right to donate unlimited funds to campaigns, super PACs, and political nonprofits. Both parties accept corporate donations and there are very little signs of this changing. In a time when politicians are spending more and more money on their campaigns it is only inevitable to see corporate involvement increase. 

Clone High is an absolutely hilarious show. I did not spoil the episode, so you should definitely check it out if you are interested.