The American Ruling Class
The American Ruling Class is a 2005 dramatic documentary film written by Lewis H. Lapham and directed by John Kirby that "explores our country’s most taboo topic: class, power and privilege in our nominally democratic republic." It seeks to answer the question, "Does America have a ruling class?" Its producers consider it the first "dramatic-documentary-musical." A rough-cut of the film was shown at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival, the final version of the film was shown on the Sundance Channel in July 2007, and it had its theatrical premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in April 2008.
Plot
The film stars Lewis H. Lapham, who plays himself as editor of Harper's Magazine. Lapham opens the film with the question of whether or not America has a "ruling class," a circle of wealthy and powerful families that run the banks, businesses, and government, essentially controlling everything in America.
Cast
More details
author | Lewis H. Lapham |
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director | John Kirby |
editor | John Kirby Leah O'Donnell |
genre | drama |
keywords | bank begin best friend change the world defeatism defeatist end film star goes to hell goldman sachs harper\'s magazine horrify lead singer mexico new world rich family ruling class stage show write yale yale university |
musicBy | Lucas Johnson-Yahraus Qasim Naqvi |
producer | Libby Handros |
publisher | The Alive Mind |
theme | documentary |