Staff Pick of the Week: PATTY HEARST

Originally submitted by: barcode 2x

Teenage Millionaire Beauty. Movie Star. Underground Revolutionary Hero. This week's staff pick is Patty Hearst! Her 1974 kidnapping and supposed brainwashing by the Symbionese Liberation Army is a shocking chapter in media history. Her captors kept her in a closet for six weeks. She eventually joined their revolutionary cause, learning urban guerilla combat techniques, robbing a bank, shooting at security guards, and fleeing the law for 18 months. Her comrades participated in one of television's most shocking live shoot-outs in history. While she escaped with two of her captors, the remaining members of the SLA burned to death in their LA safehouse. The TV news has never been the same. The advances in video technology enabled closer and heavier coverage than any other such event prior. What was the SLA rebelling against? Government, capitalism, poverty, inequality. But like many underground groups, their tactics and rationales were violent and misguided. Their accomplishments include shooting of a Black Superintendent of Schools, the kinapping of an heiress, a failed extortion attempt aimed at funneling ransom money into the hands of the poor, and a bank robbery. But following their collapse, many underground revolutionary groups were inspired to act. Many movements such as the Black Panther Party and the Weather Underground had grown into 'symbolic' organizations, commiting nonviolent acts of civil disobedience to make various political statements. These folks wanted action. In these times of war and injustice, when our culture is ripe for change and revolution, the story of the SLA comes back to us again. It is a cautionary tale, and not for the feint of heart. Check out [i]Patty Hearst[/i], a film by Paul Schrader. Hard to find! Also, Patty's own [i]Every Secret Thing[/i], her personal account of her kidnapping, arrest, and trial. [img size=321]http://www.a2ethics.org/images/fbfiles/images/hearstsla.jpg[/img]