An underdog racehorse as a metaphor for Americans suffering through, and trying to recover from, the Depression. Definitely cheers on the New Deal.

The original populist allegory: Dorothy forms a coalition of farmers (scarecrow), wage-earners (tin man) and William Jennings Bryan himself (in lion form here) to take on the Eastern elite. If only they’d kept the silver slippers from the book…

The amoral corporation, the everyday protagonist, and the underdogs defeating the powerful.

Probably still Michael Moore’s best film, and certainly his most unabashedly populist. General Motors closes its Michigan plant with an eye on profits and indifference to the community, and the city falls apart. Kinda sad that the protagonists in the movie (the mostly under-educated, out-of-work auto workers) are mocked by today’s Bill Maher “liberals.”

Average good-guy and President look-alike Dave Kovic “becomes” President for some months. In that time, he fights to save a homeless shelter, makes government responsible for achieving full employment (public works?), and generally becomes a “man of the people.”