Customer Reviews

The American Ruling Class

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

There are very few movies that warrant the blowing of me away. Enough about me.

At first glance, this movie might appear a bit erudite. Go right ahead and move past that - if you listen carefully, you will hear scintillating brilliance and dry urbane wit that rivals Monty Python's Quest for Holy Grail.

Of course this is not a comedy. But sometimes, dry can be humorful in an incredulous, eye-opening sort of way.

One of the things that absolutely floored me is how revealing this movie is. You will see people who are the real deal (extraordinary people from powerful places and top positions in the stratosphere of the global elite) say astounding, unbelievable things. And, they mean every word. It's mindblowing.

Don't be surprised if you say to yourself, "Did I hear correctly?" "No, I couldn't have heard that - let me rewind..." "They're joking, right?" "This is a put on... isn't it?" "Are they impersonators? Dub-ins?" "Are they who they say they are?" "How did the movie director get them into this movie?" "Astounding!" "I can't believe it!"

Your head will swivel. You will definitely have to watch this movie over and over again to savor every enlightening moment, every little zinging nuance.

One reason is, because, there's so much depth amongst the flashes of light and dark. It's mesmerizing. Small, simple little phrases here and there that have the weight of dark matter.

There's this quote from Voltaire - look for it. It's extraordinarily timely, considering today's economic climate... It involves "corporatism."

One beauty of this movie is that it allows you to draw your own conclusions. It provides information. You provide the thinking.

The Acting and Actors...

Great acting by two student actors who play Yale grads. One of the actors is actually a Harvard grad - how funny is that? You KNOW there was a dig in there, some way...

Another student actor was from Princeton, another, Stanford. I wonder if any were from... Yale. After all, we're talking about the political, affluent, power elite... would any Yalie participate in this most delightful movie?

Other ways this movie rrrocks...

The script is perfection, the acting, superb, actors, well chosen, the music, most excellent, and the actual real people who played themselves - stupendous.

The movie opens with a with a surreal exaggeration of an Ivy Leaguey gathering in the garden. The stage is set with verbal poetry in motion. It's like pastel vellummy old paper, crispy and faded at the corners. Dry. Jaded. Ennui'd. Just the right touches to take the Ivy League theme a touch over the top, and yet not.

And the soundtrack and music... worth putting on in the background while you're studying or working. You know how classical music increases work production? The music in this movie does that for me even though it's not classical.

This movie is a MUST HAVE as you will most definitely want to watch it over and over again. You'll see things you totally missed, every time. This movie is... aBUNdant. Overflowing with meaning and discovery.

If there ever was a movie for a lifetime, this is it. Also check out Half Moon Street with Sigourney Weaver.

I hope I'm allowed to say that!

I watched the DVD with no preconceptions as to what I was going to see except that there were a lot of well-known folks listed on the box as appearing in the film. Walter Cronkite, Senator (and NBA star) Bill Bradley, Director Robert Altman, author Kurt Vonnegut, activist/singer Pete Seeger and Disney Chair Mike Medavoy were there. Yet this was a small independent film. Were they being roped into being on camera as part of a publicity stunt? Well, yes.. and no. Director John Kirby's film is sort of like a Michael Moore documentary in that it certainly has a specific agenda but, though the premise is truly fictional - two graduating Yale seniors head off in different directions, one working for a big investment firm and the other working in social service. With the help of columnist Lewis Lapham, they also get to visit and interview the above named celebrities and politicians asking the question: Who is the current American ruling class? The musical part of the "mockumentary" is composed of some clever songs to bind the actual interviews. The students were real students but their quest for the answers was a "set up".

This film apparently played many Film Festivals and I can see why it was an audience favorite. No it won't win any Academy Award nominations, like Moore's films, but it's certainly worth watching.

There are no special features on it, which would have added to the value of the DVD.

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"

This is my favorite movie now. I watched it at least 5 times, learning something new each time. With such a sensitive subject, it's subtle, with clues everywhere, from its product placement of books, flashing of portfolios to even song lyrics. I think if you watch this movie very carefully & read the book below (see link), you could be awakened.

The Secrets of the Federal Reserve (Hardcover)The Secrets of the Federal Reserve

This DVD is superb and also subversive. I doubt that the "stars" in this movie, particularly James Baker, Bill Bradley, Howard Brown, and Larry Summers, really knew what they were getting into, since their words--and their bland denials--ring so false in this context.

I put the film in while trying to deal with Microsoft's latest "update" that cost me half the morning, and I recommend it very strongly as a Christmas present or for classrooms and book clubs.

My notes:

+ A Peabody, whose ancestors came on "the boat" and also founded Groton, laments that whereas all the leaders used to pass through Groton, now there is no real "source." I am reminded of Lee Iacocca's Where Have All the Leaders Gone?.

+ Hedge fund visits basically boils all ownership in America down to four banks, and later in the film we learn that six multinational control almost all "content."

+ We are specifically told by a financial journalist that the concentration of wealth in America is now back to 1929 levels (this was in 2006 or so, talk about a signal for the future depression!

+ Although I think of myself as a Reagan Republican (and Libertarian) I never liked his use of the military to break the unions, and now I am very troubled by the discussion of the 1970's as the era in which big money broke the backs of the unions. See also State of the Unions: How Labor Can Strengthen the Middle Class, Improve Our Economy, and Regain Political Influence.

+ Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America makes an appearance here and talks about how the underclass is living in a "constant state of emergency." This is heart-breaking and precisely the kind of thing that the White House and Congress refuse to address.

+ The discussion of the Council on Foreign Relations )CFR) established $500,000 as the minimal annual income for entry into the outer circle, and I suspect it is really closer to $2-3 million these days, the dollar being worth half what it was in the 1970's.

+ The cameo appearances by both the elites and the counter-elites (e.g. Howard Zinn) have been brilliantly orchestrated. As Joe Nye and others speak I think "best of the servant class."

+ The movie specifically addresses the question of war as profit, and I am bemused by the straight faces of the ostensible elite (actually just the top rung of the major domo line) as they deny thing. See as a minimum War is a Racket: The Antiwar Classic by America's Most Decorated Soldier and The Fifty-Year Wound: How America's Cold War Victory Has Shaped Our World.

+ Hodding Carter is interesting to me as he talks about how Lucifer always takes one on a tour of the mountain top, and then concludes that if you go into the elite you must on the one hand forget most of what you learned about doing good for others; and on the other hand, will die, not wishing for more money, but for having done your time differently.

+ The East Coast portion of the movie ends on the note of "doing well is not the same as doing good."

+ In Texas we hear about how the national interest will always remove all moral obstacles to self-interest, and with James Baker and others, explore the bomb-profit index. See also Confessions of an Economic Hit Man and The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.

+ Great line: "You can't fight City Hall, but you can buy it." In fairness to those doing the buying, my sense is that those being bought are the ones asking for the money.

The movie ends with a very inspiring walk down a country lane and the discussion of how the banks are like rocks in a big basket, and the other basket is being filled by teaspoons of sand, much of it leaking, as the many race against the few to achieve a balance of power. Powerful. See also The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, Revised and Updated 5th Anniversary Edition: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits and A Power Governments Cannot Suppress.

Both Zinn and Perkins are in this movie, the one wish I would have of any future issuance is that it include text showing the name of the person, half of them were NOT easily recognized in the single use of their name verbally.

The alternate ending includes a childrens' chorus from Camp Thoreau, and a Demopublican such as discussed in Grand Illusion: The Myth of Voter Choice in a Two-Party Tyranny and my own Election 2008: Lipstick on the Pig (Substance of Governance; Legitimate Grievances; Candidates on the Issues; Balanced Budget 101; Call to Arms: Fund We Not Them; Annotated Bibliography).

You can find all of my reviews more easily accessed within 98 categories (e.g. Democracy, Pathology of Power, Secrecy and the Politics of Secrecy) at Phi Beta Iota the Public Intelligence Blog, all with links leading back to Amazon, but vastly easier to exploit than here.

"The American Ruling Class" is not what I expected it to be. I thought it was going to be a hard-hitting expose on who really pulls the political strings. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised with a thoroughly entertaining romp through the American social system that explains in an unexpected way just what the American Ruling Class is and how you might become a member. It also has a minor sub-expose of the American Working Class. This film is well worth seeing and will keep you tuned in. That's something to say about a topic that normally tunes you out.

This new film by director John Kirby is a truly one of a kind social commentary. As a documentary its style is completely unique, mixing documentary, mockumentary, socio-political essay, and musical!

The story follows two young men through a series of encounters that illuminates the true nature of America's social class structure. While one is ready to buy in and join the wealthy "ruling" class of America, the other strives to hold on to his ideals and live a life that is meaningful in the way HE wishes it to be.

These personal narratives are intercut with interviews with prominent American cultural figures such as ROBERT ALTMAN, BILL BRADELY, KURT VONNEGUT, former Secretary of State JAMES BAKER III, HOWARD ZINN, WALTER CRONKITE, and many others, each of whom offers their own unique perspective on how our country is organized into a class that holds most of the money and most of the power and another class consisting of EVERYBODY ELSE. And just to make things interesting, musical interludes occasionally break up the action, adding new dimensions to the meaning of the film, as well as adding to the overall entertainment it offers.

I bought this DVD on a whim, as I am a very big documentary fan, and I have to say that I couldn't be happier with the purchase. You should definitely CHECK IT OUT.

What a rare movie. What a great movie. Educational and entertaining at the same time. Saw it on Link TV 2 times and was stuck like glue both times. So I'm buying it to watch it again and again. (There is a lot of info in this movie.) If you go into it with an open mind, you'll come out a better person. I strongly recommend this to everyone. Great use of music too. (It is a musical documentary after all.) Have the remote handy when you watch it, you'll probably find yourself rewinding it many times, "Did I just hear what I thought I heard?" It's actually fun to watch.

Saw this on network TV recently and loved it so much I have decided to come here to buy it.

Worth watching, very kooky, great songs and a lot of familiar (political) faces.

I first saw this in London the summer it was shown there on the Sundance Channel (2007). I saw it again last week at home.

With the dvd last week, I was glad to have the chance to rewind to catch quotes and scenes that I wanted to see a second time. I ended up watching the whole thing twice in one sitting, which I wouldn't recommend because it's sort of a mental strain to follow the talking heads, and the music is another kind of strain, but had to return the rental that day.

This documentary is very full of itself, trying to be ironic, as it shows privileged white men pondering about what it takes to be a privileged person in US society, while knowing that they already are in that position themselves (even if they are acting at times as if there is a chance that they aren't in that position).

Maybe it's because I lived in Europe for 14 years, but this documentary wasn't at all shocking to me and it didn't tell me anything I didn't already know about the US. (Except for a couple of good quotes from historical writers that I noted down.)

I also didn't like the songs in this movie - they weren't entertaining to me and the second time I watched it, I fast-forwarded through them.

The acting was kind of stilted. It often felt like it was more a dress rehearsal than a finished product.

Lapham comes across as being quite enamoured of himself, which is fine with me, since I'm sure that he's got a lot of talents, and as a white privileged American guy he is commendably more self-aware and willing to rock the boat than the average American white privileged guy probably is, but the smugness is palpable, especially at the times when he's reading a very pithy sentence that must have taken an hour to perfect from a cue card and acting as if it's coming off the top of his head at that moment.

In one sense, to me this is a show-offy kind of film about how many people Lapham knows, and about how much power he has that he could even make other powerful people look ridiculous and like royal jerks, but still got them to cooperate in his movie.

Yet it's true to life that a lot of folks in charge are sort of bumbling, reactionary people who have come to believe they were in a meritocratic battle on the way up, and therefore feel they earned the authority to run institutions and determine the rules of society.

The film also doesn't give anyone other than white privileged guys any thoughts on how to improve one's lot in life, or how to come to terms with accepting the compromises and karma disturbances that come with swirling in elite circles. If it's this hard for graduates from Yale to feel they are on the right ideological path in life, and to be happy in their job (and this film was filmed before the current economic crisis), what hope is there for the un-college-educated minority non-white person hailing from Abilene or Youngstown, for example? I guess that the film indicates that there is no hope at all. (I suppose they could work at an IHOP, or if they are white, young, and female they could be a dancing girl or play in the band at society soirees.)

This film probably would be educational to some people, and enjoyable to some as well. I wish it went deeper, or followed the two protagonists for longer, or looked at the situation of a woman or a person of color or someone from a midwestern state university etc etc etc, or actually said much about the American power elite (nitty gritty stuff), but, as it is, I think I've spent 5 hours of my life now on this documentary, which is saying something, as I watch few films or tv shows.

This is a poorly acted, poorly written, mess of a film. Interspersed with distracting ill conceived and executed musical numbers! It all adds up to a totally amateurish production whose important message becomes completely ineffectual as it gets lost among the senseless and superfluous novelty. And no, it is not saved by the admittedly revelatory statements made by some of the real (non-actors) people. It's almost embarrassingly bad, (just check out the Howard Zinn scene).

Bottom line, don't waste your money, skip this and watch the far more powerful and entertaining documentaries, (with similar themes) "The Corporation" (Highly recommended) along with the sobering and enraging "Maxed Out". Or even "Capitalism a Love Story".