> This past Sunday, the new Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, answered > Hillary Clinton's criticism of his "more orphanages" solution to > single-parent families. Ebenezer Newt's Yuletide solution ("Are there no > workhouses?") was called absurd by the First Lady. Mr. Gingrich suggested > that she go to Blockbuster Video and rent the film, "Boys Town". Aside from > the paid commercial announcement, this is a curious solution to 1994's social > problems. > "Boys Town" was a hit film produced in 1938 by M-G-M. Supervising the > sentimental tale of a dedicated priest finding solutions for youths at risk, > was the radical right-wing Republican Louis B. Mayer, the highest paid > executive in the United States at the time and owner of a formidable stable > of thoroughbred horses. His daughters were married to other studio > executives. The co-author of the original screenplay (for which he won an > Oscar) was the studio's token New Dealer, Dore Schary. The film was among > Mayer's favorites as it promoted his fantasy vision of his adopted country as > a place where everyone looked alike and no child was too far gone to be won > over by a good-hearted Irish priest who practiced "tough love". Of course, > the story was no more accurate in 1938 than it is today. It was part of the > mythical U.S.A. imagined by the immigrant geniuses who created the studios as > a kind of wish fulfillment not so different from the new breed of G.O.P. > "revolutionaries" we have in control of our legislature beginning in January. > Of course, the likes of Mickey Rooney (whose chief problems in the film were > smoking and playing pool) and Spencer Tracy, who were so susceptible to a > tear in the eye in 1938, would be beaten, robbed, gang-raped and burned on a > pyre by the grade of criminal we are faced with today. But nostalgic fantasy > is so much more acceptable to the electorate than reality. Ask any graduate > of a 1938 reformatory what relation it had to "Boys Town". In fact, today a > school for young boys run by clerics is much more suspect than it was in > 1938, when incest and child molestation was no more part of the fantasy than > were single-parent families subsisting in sub-human conditions. The antipathy > of the Right towards non-standard "families" in favor of the traditional > religious-based nuclear family produces, in fact, the greater part of child > abuse that we know today. While there is nothing about religion or tradition > that encourage abuse, it is undeniable that it is far more common in such > contexts than anyone dreamed of (or were willing to speak of) in 1938. > But all this brings up an interesting concept. It is certainly cheaper to > rent a video than to address a problem. So, in the interests of the > Reaganomics-mortgaged economy, let us make a modest proposal that all of our > current social problems could be solved by a similar Republican initiative. > Perhaps Senators Thurmond, Helms and Gramm could address the race question by > renting "The Birth of a Nation" or "Gone With the Wind". Newt could solve the > drug problem by urging everyone to rent "Reefer Madness". Urban blight and > ethical considerations could be solved by a mass viewing of "It's a Wonderful > Life". Senator D'Amato could stem governmental corruption by having C-SPAN > run "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington". > However, my personal suggestion is right-wing Republican Cecil B. DeMille's > remarkably appropriate "This Day and Age" of 1933. In that pre-Miranda, > pre-defendants' rights epic, DeMille suggested that the Bill of Rights and > the Rules of Evidence be eliminated. The climax of the film had teen-agers > suspending some suspected criminals over a pit of hungry rats until they > confessed to their crimes. This timely epic could be sponsored by Justices > Scalia and Thomas in the hope that its moral might spread throughout the > land. > In this way, the calumny that Hollywood promoted an unrealistic view of > society and its problems could be proved untrue. Or, perhaps, we could see > the new Washington as it truly is: The Dream Factory. > > Gene Stavis, School of Visual Arts - NYC > thank you Gene Stavis. miriam gianni