SAICFF: 11:00 A.M. - 10/29

In 1979, Hollywood insider, Ben Stein, published his book "The View from Sunset Boulevard," subtitled "America as brought to you by the people who make television." In it he outlined the results of his studies, which found the following depictions as consistently presented in Hollywood television and feature films:

Businessmen = criminals

The military = psychotic sadists

Minorities of all descriptions = goodhearted and hard-working

Small towns = evil

Criminals = victims of racism and poverty

Clergy = uninformed, unsophisticated, and ineffectual

Government social workers = noble, idealistic

Fathers = stupid

Children = superior and more intelligent than parents

Mr. Stein's conclusion was this: "It all came together for me only by using a Marxian analysis."

Here Mr. Botkin turned to powerfully present Marxism and Neo-Marxism as the direct but subtle power behind Hollywood's molding and shaping of culture. He quotes a poem written by a young Karl Marx:

"Soon I shall embrace eternity to my breast, and soon I shall howl gigantic curses on mankind... If there is a something which devours, I'll leap within though I bring the world to ruins. The world which bulks between me and abyss I will smash to pieces iwth my enduring curses... Behold this sword - the prince of darkness sold it to me. For he beats the time and gives the signs. Ever more boldly I play the dance of Death." — Karl Marx