1927, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
Photo Credit: The Red List

My nephew Walter, at 40 years of age, is 30 years younger than I am and we got to talking recently about our favorite films; after checking out the American Film Institute's list of 100 Greatest American Films Of All Time (1), I noted that I had viewed all 100 but one, the 1927 silent film classic Sunrise. Walter, on the other hand, had seen less than a dozen of them.

This is why I find that many young people do not have the same cultural references that I do. Many times when telling a joke to the under 40 crowd relating to a film classic, I get a blank stare instead of a hearty guffaw that emanates from most people my age (70) who hear the same joke. It's a reel shame when so many young do not know the meaning behind "Badges? We don't need no stinkin' badges!"

ACT College admissions tests made public 2 years ago reveal disturbing results: The incoming freshman class was woefully unprepared for college. The class of 2016, as a group, failed all four subjects the test assesses: English, math, reading, and science.

Perhaps youth would be better served if they watched classic films in schools instead of whatever drivel teachers are spouting these days. Public schools today are pumping out low-information graduates who are not only clueless about politics, but everything else as well.

I know what you are going to say: "But Bernie, movies are not history, they're just made up stories - even films based on real events are largely unrestrained fabrications." That may be true, however at least from such films as Schindler's List and The Bridge on the River Kwai they would learn that WWII occurred during the 1940s and that America and her allies were fighting Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan; at least from Gone with the Wind they would learn that our country had a civil war; at least from Spartacus they would learn that once long ago there was a mighty nation called Rome which ruled much of the known world; at least from 12 Angry Men they would learn that Eyewitness Identification is More Often Wrong than Right.

Most importantly, from the film Network they would learn that "Since few Americans read or think for themselves, and television is their only truth,” they must save themselves by turning off their television sets." Perhaps then there would have been fewer idiots believing the media-driven lie that Michael Brown had his hands up begging not to be shot.

P.S.: The film Sunrise is a cinematic lacuna I intend to fill by bidding on a copy on eBay this week; and so I won't need to change the title of the article.