The American Ruling Class

The American Ruling Class dances to a different tune than most documentaries. First, it employs two amateur actors (Harvard men, actually) to play fictional characters recently graduated from Yale. Second, its tone is liberal, sarcastic, highly articulate, and critical of the powers-that-be thanks to a script by costar Lewis Lapham (Harper's Magazine editor). Third, and most tellingly, the film occasionally breaks into song, just like a musical. Mind you, these aren't problems, but rather strengths, all used to satirize a dirty little secret about American society: namely, that a ruling class exists. At first, the young men (“one rich and the other not so rich”) balk at that suggestion, but as Lapham guides the pair through the social strata, the lads begin to see the elite spoils conferred by money, power, and privilege. Along the way, numerous eminent figures speak out on the existence of America's ruling class and its characteristics, including Kurt Vonnegut, Walter Cronkite, Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr. (publisher of the New York Times), Howard Zinn, Senator Bill Bradley, former Secretary of State James Baker, Robert Altman, and Pete Seeger. In one memorable scene, author Barbara Ehrenreich—playing an IHOP waitress—explains how difficult it is to live on the substandard wages of service jobs, which leads to the best song sequence, “Nickel and Dimed” (also the title of one of Ehrenreich's bestselling books). The American Ruling Class tackles a serious topic, but does so humorously without making light of the real problems. Sure to spark discussion, this is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (J. Wadland)