“Earth without art is…eh.” We see it everyday; on the poster on your wall, in the music you listen to, in the shows you watch, art is everywhere. So are politics.

There’s a common complaint thrown around– now more than ever– to keep politics out of artistic media. What people fail to realize is that these themes have always been in art.

No matter how much one tries to avoid political affairs, it’s as inevitable as art. Almost all the creativity you endorse on your day to day is deep rooted in social ideologies. It’s impossible to duck.

The 2026’s Super Bowl LX half time show was a great example of that as it featured Green Day, a historically anti-government punk rock band, and Bad Bunny– Puerto Rican song writer who sings passionately about his culture. The NFL choosing those artists was a heavy allusion to the current political state of America.

However,  what mediums specifically can we find political inferences in?

Video games are a great example. So many of the games we know and love address social injustices, tyranny and revolution. 

Jorden Gill, a junior at Buena High School, uses the example of “Detroit Become Human”, a popular choice-based story game made in 2016. 

“[The game] helps educate people…and encourages them to form their own opinions [on current events and politics],” Gill said.

A good portion of story telling touches on politics, fiction or not. This is done so the consumer makes a stance and applies those ideas to their own community.

Music is another medium where politics are evident and often overlooked. So many genres of music were made as rebellion or expression.

History teacher Michael Gianelli talked about a thread online he saw where one user was shaming the rock band Rage Against the Machine for being Antifa in their music. 

“Why are you surprised…anti-government is everything they’ve ever stood for,” Gianelli said.

It doesn’t stop at alternative music, though. Blues and jazz were created by African Americans as a community staple to protest Jim Crow laws. Hip hop originated in African American and Hispanic communities to reject the system especially for marginalized communities. Indie originates in folk music which was popularized during the Great Depression to project the struggles of poverty. 

Nearly every genre of music was a creative outlet to protest or express disdain for the government. Not recognizing the history and culture of art limits your ability to really appreciate it. 

Politics are in every corner of our lives making it unavoidable in art. 

“It’s in t-shirts, it’s in movies, it’s in commercials, you find [political cartoons] on Instagram,” art teacher Nicole Rapattoni said.

These are things that have existed for a long time. It’s only more prominent now because the global tensions are so high that they’re impossible to ignore.

Do you still think none of this applies to you? Don’t worry, it does. Think about the last time you ate fried chicken. 

Food is most definitely an art medium, and many foods have political backgrounds. Soul foods such as fried chicken, collard greens and corn bread, were all originated as an act of rebellion for slaves.

When slaves were prohibited to eat anything of real sustenance– which they often were– they would take scraps of their captors’ quality food and conjure what we know today as soul food.

So can a person really ask to separate politics from their daily life? No, it’s not plausible. Next time you’re enjoying something creative, be it food or a sitcom, take a second to not only find, but also appreciate the political message it carries.

There’s no such thing as being too educated and no such thing as total centrism. Without politics there is no art, and without art there is no humanity.