'American Ruling Class' Can't Get on Its Own Merits

From: The Washington Post | Date: March 31, 2006 | Copyright information

In "The American Ruling Class," Harper's editor Lewis Lapham takes viewers on a journey through the American aristocracy and its influence on the country's political economy and culture. An often tortured blend of documentary and fiction -- with some awkwardly staged musical numbers thrown in for a touch of ill-advised whimsy - - "The American Ruling Class" shares some formal conceits with the under-the-radar 2004 hit "What the #$*! Do We Know?," and the comparison is not a felicitous one.

Preachy, condescending and shockingly naive, this film purports to rip the veil from America's ...

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