Political Ideology Of Thomas Characters EXPLAINED

well this won't be a controversial video at all many people would describe Thomas as escapism if you ever feel depressed or anger at the world I think Thomas is like an escape from all that where you don't have to worry about the real life things like drama or politics it's definitely a comfort show however that doesn't mean political topics haven't been touched upon in the show before for the most part Thomas is a pretty apolitical show however political topics have come up before such as the three big engines forming a workers union and then there's the whole concept of diesels replacing steam engines the way diesels talk about being revolutionary we are revolutionary oh for the most part the show is pretty apolitical but that doesn't mean politics haven't been a factor in some episodes so I thought it'd be fun to go through the characters of Thomas and break down what their political ideologies would be just based solely on their characters and how they act in the books and show I'll be focusing mainly on the main characters as what I'd love to go through every character in the franchise most Thomas characters are pretty apolitical while I love to dissect the political ideologies of a character like Flora there really isn't all that much to her so before we begin I just want to set down a few ground rules one this is not a political video despite politics being in the thumbnail and political subjects featuring very heavily throughout the video this isn't a video where I endorse any particular party honestly this is more of a character study about how the engines themselves would vote if you want to talk about the engine politics that's fine but please just keep your own politics out of this 2. bias while I tried to be as unbiased as I could be since all the engines exist in a free market Society in the 1960s there will be a lot of bias in their political ideologies but I still tried to keep it as balanced as I reasonably could and finally number three keep it civil and perfectly fine with people having disagreements on what political opinions they think a fictional train would have and by all means debate that but if I see anyone promoting violence or genocide or if I see anyone threatening to unalive people just because they have a different political opinion that sort of rhetoric will not be tolerated I'm finally people disagreeing but just keep it constructive keep it civil and keep it on topic okay with all that out of the way let's get started with the man himself Thomas to me Thomas is definitely an anarchist an anarchist is a person who constantly questions the authority of the society in which he lives and I think that pretty much fits Thomas to a t he's always very skeptical of authority he's constantly rude to Gordon who is essentially the embodiment of tradition I think there's also a hint of libertarianism with Thomas as well with the way he hates being driven around by a driver and thinks he can do it all by himself or the way he doesn't like being told to wear a snowplow Libertarians also don't like governments telling them what to do so I think Thomas is somewhat libertarian in nature but I think what pushes Thomas from libertarianism to anarchism is the way he handles challenging The Authority because Thomas isn't very constructive when it comes to challenging people he's much more likely to just tell them that they're all idiots without actually explaining why you don't know what I suffer moaned Henry rubbish said Thomas you're too fat you need exercise there's a significant lack of empathy with Thomas you know he's very quick to challenge the bureaucracy of society or is very quick to challenge the pointless hierarchies you could view Thomas running his Branch line as analogous to private Enterprise and with the government threatening to shut Thomas's Branch line down you could definitely see how you get very anti-government sentiments I don't really see Thomas as a left wing or a right-wing character he just seems very anti-authority so no matter what Authority you give Thomas much like an anarchist he will still rebel against us but despite Thomas's anti-government sentiments or his libertarian stance or his all-round anachronistic nature he is still ironically enough a monarchist which makes Thomas's political opinions all the more interesting Edward now Edward is a very difficult character to find a political opinion of because Edward is inherently a character who plays his cards close to his chest he's a very conflict avoidant character and as a consequence makes very conscious decisions to not talk about things like politics but just because Edward chooses not to talk about politics doesn't mean he doesn't have political opinions so let's find out what they are firstly when the three big engines start a workers reunion and go on strike you'll notice that Edward is the only one who continues to work for the railway he even gets the nickname black wheels they say tender engines don't shunt and last night they said I have black wheels I haven't have I sir no Edward you have nice blue ones and I'm proud of you which of course is analogous to the term black leg which is a British term for men who work during a strike from Edward's actions we can interpret that he isn't the biggest fan of workers unions which is interesting if I were to Hazard a guest I would say that Edward is somewhat conservative in nature since he's so old you know Edward is very much the embodiment of older things still being useful in modern day like how he saves Trevor from the scrapyard or how he saves the fat controller's old PA system Edward really is the embodiment of the phrase if it ain't broken don't fix it he's also very conservative in the way he puts his family first he's very much a family man but what I love most about Edward is that he doesn't let his somewhat conservatism Define him like despite him and Boko being completely different engines from completely different eras that doesn't stop him from being best friends with him so despite being conservative I still think he's very open-minded and I think that's why a lot of people like Edward because he's very apolitical in a lot of ways he's not like Thomas or Gordon or they'll spout off about some hot take political opinions they have no in terms of political opinions Edward is the type who will never tell you who he voted for he's very secretive about his own views and is much more about keeping the peace rather than starring an argument Henry so the odd thing about Henry is that I have two answers for his political views the first is for The Railway Series betrayal and the other is for the TV series in The Railway Series I would say Henry is fairly conservative and close-minded in nature he doesn't think tender engines should shunt he's very similar to Gordon a lot of ways and that he'll essentially do or say whatever he does however TV series Henry is quite different Henry has this undying love for trees and nature he loves the forest and the greenery and in a new series he often visits the wishing tree in the TV series Henry is essentially one of those new age hippies and I love that I think Henry would really be in favor of government spending on protecting the environment he'd very much be in favor of government organizations like the EPA for example save the trees save the whales save those snails save the trees save the bees in the world save those nails with the amount of sickness that Henry has also suffered throughout the show I imagine Henry would have gotten himself into a lot of financial deaths so I feel like he'd really be in favor of government spending on health programs too for example so in terms of politics I'd say Henry would actually be pretty liberal Gordon I think out of all the political perspectives in the show this is the one who most people will agree with and it's that Gordon is a conservative in English terms datatori in American terms that's a republican Gordon believes very strongly in Tradition he believes that each engine has his own role in society and to break that role is outrageous in Gordon's eyes Gordon is often stuck in his own traditional ways be it dawnless engine is not being proper or not whistling correctly or having to shun trains like common tank engines Gordon is all about things being done the proper way although he did manage to arrange a workers union with the other big engines so perhaps Gordon is a little more liberally minded than he cares to admit but I think that had less to do with workers rights and more to do with the tender engine just not wanting to feel like tank engines but I digress James James's character is all about free expression he's not afraid to tell people what's on his mind he takes great pride in his appearance and is a very proud character this has led many fans to code James as representative of LGBT people and I kind of have to agree there's a certain vibe that you get off James metaphorically speaking James is kind of like your gay Uncle you know the one he's in his 40s and doesn't have a wife for children and it's kind of like an Open Secret in the family that is gay but they just don't talk about it yeah Des James I think that would spill over into James's political ideology as being very pro-gay that would make James pretty liberal however we do unfortunately have to talk about James's bigotry in The Railway Series James had a pretty strong Prejudice for diesels it was somewhat just a fight in the 50s but his Prejudice with diesels lasted well into the 80s although he was eventually won over by The Works diesel so even though James haddock checkered past I still think he would land on quite the liberal side of the spectrum Percy the way Percy interacts with politics is kind of like how a child would interact with politics in that I don't think Percy would have a proper understanding of it so I honestly don't know where to play some other political Spectrum although I will say if I were to put Percy anywhere in a political system I do think he sort of represents the working class because you know he's the lowest status character in The Society he works in and he does all the back-breaking work and doesn't get any reward for it other than being dumped on or being called Dirty don't call me dirty Percy so whatever way the working class votes that is also the way I think Percy would vote as well in all honesty I think Percy would actually make a great politician he's very much a man of the people like how he talks to the mainland engines hell even the truck seems to like them even though they did backstab him in the end Toby what I love about Toby is that I don't think he gives a single about politics he probably did care about politics in the past but he's at the point in his life where he's just so over it he just doesn't care about it the true neutral if you will like the only time Toby would talk about politics is if he knew we could get a rise out of the other political characters like I could totally see Gordon talking about some conservative idea and then Toby would just say he's a communist just to piss him off or I could totally see James talking about some very liberal idea and then Toby says something very conservative just to annoy James it's so Toby I think Toby is the true neutral of the political Spectrum in that he's so over politics and just doesn't care about it anymore Toby's kind of like what Edward wants to be in politics where Edward makes a conscious decision to be neutral on everything Toby doesn't choose to be neutral in everything he just is and I love that duck Duck's political opinions are surprisingly multifaceted and complex because on the surface level yeah he seems pretty conservative the way he talks about his Railway is almost like how he talks about a religion everything always has to come back to the Great Western Railway with him I'm great western and don't we know it straight road I think that's very similar to how religious people act when everything always comes back to God for them hell despite being on a new Railway duck still keeps his Great Western Railway lettering and numbering you get the sense to duck is very close-minded about change and that's especially true when diesel comes to the yard duck is very skeptical of diesel and is not in favor of his ideas of Revolution at all it's very easy to write him off as a generic conservative character however I think there's a little more complexity to him than meets the eye you'll see when Duke first came to the railway he saw how rude the big engines were being to Percy so much so that he arranged a strike outside the shed by sitting on the points this is very interesting characterization because you wouldn't think of duck to be the type to go on strike and yet here we are I definitely think duck is the type who believes in very strong Authority and believes in respecting that Authority but if that Authority doesn't respect him back then duck has no hesitation in firing back on them so while duck is in favor of strong Authority he's also in favor of strong competent Authority which makes him all the more interesting diesel when diesel first came to the yard one of the things he talked about was how revolutionary He Is We Are revolutionary Revolution is often a term associated with overthrowing free market societies so think like the French Revolution or the Russian Revolution or the Cuban Revolution all things very much associated with socialism I think diesel comes off to me as socialists specifically with the way he talks about being revolutionary I also love this idea of duck being conservative and Diesel being socialist because is I think it adds another layer to their dynamic because they both have pros and they both have cons having duck be conservative and Diesel being socialist does make them opposites but it also kind of makes them similar just inverted they're very much part of the same yin and yang if you will I love that I think it's very interesting that they're both kind of right and kind of wrong at the same time you know it's a lot more layered and interesting Donald and Douglas I actually think Donald Douglas were quite liberal I think Donald Douglas would be very in favor of things like immigration especially when you consider the Donald Douglas about technically immigrants themselves and considering that only one of the twins was meant to come but they both came I think immigration would be something that both Donald and Douglas will be favoring and that's especially true with Oliver in Escape when the whole story is is about Douglas smuggling Oliver over to Refuge of Sodor so yeah in terms of immigration I think they'd be quite liberal however they did have quite a hatred of diesels so I'm not sure where they would be placed on the political Spectrum but to be fair Donald Douglas did eventually befriend characters like Boko pip and Emma so I think they are still quite liberal they're honestly not too dissimilar to James in a lot of ways where they're very liberal on some subjects but very conservative on others so wherever James goes on the political Spectrum I think that's where Donald and Douglas would probably go too Oliver Oliver comes from the Great Western Railway I do think he has a fairly conservative mindset especially where how he doesn't believe toad about the whale being on the beach and how he needs to see it with his own eyes in order to believe it however I do also think he has quite a liberal mindset like he does want to help the whale and he must be in favor of immigration as we see him get over to Sodor by Douglas mix that with his conservatism I think he'd be somewhat of a soft rice Emily I'll be honest I think Emily was the easiest to find a political ideology firm as I feel she is the most honest about who she is so first and foremost I think Emily is a monarchist just so the way she talks about kings and queens I'd like to be a queen in thought Emily it's very clear that she's in favor of the monarchy I think Emily would almost certainly be very liberally minded she's the type who keeps asking questions like why the government isn't doing more and she very much wants more government spending on things like public health services and saving the environment and I'm also fairly certain that she's a feminist too I think a lot of Emily's character is very much based in feminism especially with her being the only female intimate sheds but not being afraid to speak up just like the other male characters she definitely comes after me as a very good female politician what I really love about Emily is that I feel like her and TV series Henry's politics is actually fairly similar they're both in favor of larger governments they're both in favor of spending on saving the environment and helping people so yeah I think it's interesting that their politics kind of lines up Diesel 10 Diesel 10 is almost certainly alt right in case that wasn't obvious or clear enough already since he's actively participating in the genocide of all steam engines how could he not be I think he definitely want the government to basically genocide away all the steam engines be a true Force I think that would Place him somewhere in the authoritarian rise very much in favor of a right-wing government that sets out to destroy all steam engines although I'm not sure whether I should put him on the Socialist end of the spectrum since the way he treats the Diesels in the CGI series kind of like communist Fringe group since they all tend to live on the outskirts and they all want the genocide of the steam engines but act fairly socialist with the diesel since he wants to act out genocide with the steam engines but also acts fairly socialist with the Diesels I'm just going to put him here on the political Spectrum are pretty apolistical they're just kind of old gentle kind characters they're kind of like Toby in that they've lived such long lives that they don't care about politics anymore although considering that there are 150 something years old I am more inclined to say that they're more on the conservative leaning side considering they're all preserved steam engines on an Old Railway sir handle I think sir handle would also be very conservative because her handle thinks the whole universe revolves around him I think his political philosophy would very much be in favor of things like individual freedoms and open markets I think he'd be very libertarian in that he hates the idea of the government making decisions for him and he hates the idea of taxes I can guarantee user handle has been evading his taxes for years Peter Sam on the other hand Peter Sam is the exact opposite of Sir Handel in that he will always pay his taxes and that he will always follow the rules and the laws of the government Peter Sam is very nice and a very compassionate character so unlikes her handle I do think he'd be in favor of government spending on helping the needy and the less fortunate although at the same time Peter Sam is also quite a gullible character so I feel like he's the type of character who could have been very easily taken advantage of Pearson could very much be used as a pawn let's say Rusty I think Rusty is a definition of of a liberal character Rusty is one of the few characters in the whole franchise who has a fluid gender so on a social level I definitely think he's very liberal I think he's very fluid identity also applies to his character in that he's very open to new experiences like exploring the Bluebell Railway or traveling to the mainland or understanding Boulder he also helped smuggle Stephanie to the island of Sodor so yeah an all-round little liberal diesel Duncan I think Duncan is just flat out a communist again he's very rebellious and Rebellion is something very much associated with Communism or socialism also before Duncan came to Sodor he may or may not have worked in a factory which may have contributed to his hatred of free market societies Duncan is the definition of a rebellion he is constantly getting stuck in tunnels or is on the causeway or is on the viaduct or is derailing or crashing the whole concept of Duncan rocking and rolling is pretty in line with the anti-society punk rock and roll movement which I think Duncan does admire he's very much the type to Stick it to the Man so to speak Annie and clarabel Annie and clarabel come after me as conservative but not by choice rather because of Thomas being such a crazy Anarchist he's constantly doing crazy wacky things and Annie and clarabel are like the antidote to that in that their conservative voices bring Thomas back down to Earth so I won't stop at all that's a terrible idea Thomas what about the other passengers and you'll get into trouble with the best controller I suppose you're right Thomas wants to do something crazy and wacky and Annie and Clara will bring him down to reality they're very traditional coaches and try to keep Thomas rebellious nature in check they're like his two aunties that want to make the right decisions from it's kind of sweet toad as toad said himself he likes to think of himself of having Forward Thinking views I'm always going backwards Mr Oliver I have forward-thinking views I could be a leader so we can presume that by forward-thinking views he means a very liberally minded man or breakvan also with the way the toad cares for animals like the whale for example I think he'd very much be in favor of spending on animals and well-being organizations I think toad is the type who likes to think about the future as well I also love this idea of toad being the only Forward Thinking break fan while while all the other brake fans are actually quite backwards and it actually checks out speaking of backwards brake fans Bradford in case it wasn't obvious enough Bradford is a military guy he's all about strong Authority he's all about compliance which would Place him somewhere on the authoritarian right he's very orderly and is very demanding of others and he wants to get exactly what they want so he's kind of like the opposite of toading away in that he really believes in strong right-wing Authority and he believes in more government spending on the military so that we can protect the country that is what Bradford is trucks well you see trucks are generally seen as masochists a masochist is someone who derives pleasure from self-inflicted pains so I don't really know what if any political ideology a truck would have if I were to Hazard a guess I would say maybe socialist or a communist just based on the fact that the trucks seemed to be treated as equals and none of them seem to have de fact leaders unless you count the leader scruffy but of course even communist country had leaders but just based on the fact that all the trucks seem to be of equal value and they all seem to share the means of production and to finish this video let's talk about the two hats the fat controller in case it wasn't obvious the fat controller is very clearly conservative despite running a railway somewhere in the 1960s he's still using very old outdated Victorian era steam engines on his Railway he's a very stubborn man I'll tell you that much ironically whenever he does try to modernize the railway it always ends up backfiring horribly be it a fog horn or a new diesel screwing up or the new PA system not working no wonder he's so adverse to change everything new he tries fails lady house now unlike her husband I think lady hat is actually quite liberal she's very interested in modernizing the railway as confirmed in that god-awful Bible but there is some evidence of this in the show too like how she calls Annie in clarabel Beach Huts I do like the idea of the fat controller being conservative and wanting to keep the railway the way it is while lady hat is all about modernizing and changing there's a very nice yin yang between those two as well so yeah that was the political ideologies of all the Thomas characters something I really appreciate about Thomas is about how truly diverse the characters are there's nothing worse than having a TV show where all the bad characters are represented by one ideology and all the good characters represented by another because it's so boring I think it's way more fun when you have a diversity of loads of characters who come from all different perspectives and have very different opinions on the world I think it just leads to way more interesting stories and dynamic that's what makes pairing Up characters from Thomas so interesting and personally speaking I think it's one of the reasons why Thomas has lasted as long as it is because you see parts of yourself and James you see parts of yourself and Thomas that's what makes Thomas character so interesting to watch there are of course many other characters that I could have touched upon but didn't mention and hey you know if this video does well maybe I might do a part two I couldn't get around to every engine's political idea ideology but hey if this video does well and some of you give good enough suggestions for other characters I might very well do a part two but what do you all think do you think I got the ideologies for each character correct or do you feel I misinterpreted some of them please let me know and also let me know what random one-off character political ideologies you think there are I would love to know some of the characters like Scruff thank you all so much for watching and I will see you all in the next one slan lat Dave the trees save the bees save the whales save those snails

Channel: Thomas Theorist

Views: 55,587

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Id: VP-h5skheTs

Length: 24min 32sec (1472 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 04 2023