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/ Nation NORTHWEST HERALD Stction B Saturday. September 14,1915 P«9* S Is the White House a 'B' movie? By Richard M. Harnett United Press International BERKELEY, Calif. -- A political science professor at the University of California suggests President Reagan's fascination with a "Star Wars" missile defense may reflect the plot and action of a "B" movie he filmed in the 1940s. In an interview Tuesday, Michael Rogin said: "I am not trying to psychoanalyze the president, but I have the sense that movies, televi­ sion, visual images have taken over He seems to take them a little more seriously than other people do." Rogin cited the movie "Murder in the Air," in which actor Ronald Rea­ gan played American secret agent Brass Bancroft in a drama of con­ flict with a band of Communist spies. At the film's climax, Ban­ croft-Reagan downs an enemy spy plane with a miraculous defensive weapon that paralyzes electric currents. The film shows "attack on subver­ sion; merger of Communism and fascism; the flippancy about mat­ ters of life and death, peace and war; the obsession with intelligence agents as the means to national se­ curity; and, most strikingly, the ex­ istence of an airborne defensive su- perweapon that will make America invulnerable," Rogin said. "All these look forward beyond World War II tcrthe 'Star Wars' militariza­ tion of space and the Reagan presidency." Reagan "intervened against his own scientific consultants and nor­ mal bureaucratic processes to write out in longhand the paragraphs of his March 198T speech advocating a ballistic missile defense system," Rogin noted. ^ « Rogin said Reagan's political and ' film careers are fused remarkably. The president seems to act as if a political campaign or a national de­ bate on taxes can be seen in terms of "winning one for the Gipper," Rogin said. "I am saying there is some confu­ sion between the real world and the movie world for him," said Rogin, who presented a lengthy analysis of Reagan's film career and how it Mr. Moms the casual observer that they had been raised by the father," Pruett said. "When the children talk about their families, they tend to be very traditional, even though theirs are not. One mother is a judge. The daughter talks about her mother cooking thfe dinner, washing the dishes, doing the laundry -- when in fact, the mother doesn't do that very much," Pruett said. "You have to look at play, and how they reveal their inner selves. These childrens' play is relatively free of sexual stereotypes. The boys are nurturing. The girls are very feminine but also are very competi­ tive and curious. "Flexibility is an extraordinary asset to family development. The richer the responses you have, the less you are likely to be knocked off your feet," he said. Welch said he expects his relation­ ship with Emma will have "a bal­ ancing effect on her sense of sexual­ ity. We are trying to bring her up as anyth ing but a sweet l i t t l e plaything." His wife agreed. "She's obviously very attached to him. I haven't no­ ticed any favoritism of him over me," Pope said. "I think it is an advantage for her. She is exposed to so many things. He takes her places, does things with her I probably wouldn't do -- like fixing the cars. "Pat and I have tried to work out a pattern where we can both get something for ourselves, and conse­ quently, we're happier. Working women spend a lot of time with their children. That's not to say that working fathers don't. The mother wants to have that connectedness too," Pope said. Welch said he is thinking about going back to work soon, now that Emma is old enough to go to day care. "There is an interesting job pend­ ing, and I may put an application in," he said. "But I won't be at all disappointed if I don't get picked." The Yale study of Mr. Moms be­ gan as a one-year effort. Pruett has continued it on his own, and it is now in its sixth year. Eight of the origi­ nal 20 families still have the father as primary care-giver. "I feel I have to keep it going because we know so little about this event," Pruett said. "The number of single fathers has jumped 125 per­ cent from 1974 to 1985. The number of fathers now involved in the care of their children is just rapidly in­ creasing because of women in the workforce and because men are finding new pleasures and .rather unique rewards in doing it." Dr. Janina Galler, a child psychia­ trist on the Boston University School of Medic ine facu l ty , accepts Pruett's general findings but faulted the lack of a control group for direct comparison on child development levels. "The general clinical impression is that fathers are perfectly capable of raising their children. I think that is accurate. Some of our work here confirms that fathers are as capable of 'maternal behavior' as mothers are," Galler said. "It is not a hor­ monal prerogative. "The good point he is making is how quickly fathers can adapt to the situation and utilize the instincts thai they have," she said. "I think there is a big implication for single parent families. And there is an im­ portant message for divorce courts: that given the proper environment, either parent can be a good care­ giver." The Census Bureau reported t**l 799,000 single fathers were raising their children on their own as of March 1984, up more than 150 per­ cent from the level of 267,000 in 1964. Peter Cyr, secretary of the Na­ tional Congress for Men, a men's rights group, claims the number of fathers awarded sole custody in di­ vorce proceedings is not increasing because judges are still influenced by old stereotypes. "I even know of a case," Cyr said, "where the husband was the house- Continued from Page 2B father while the couple was mar­ ried. He was staying home raising the kids, and the wife was a career mother who went to the office every day. But when they got divorced, the children were awarded to the moth­ er. And the first thing she did was go out and get a nanny." might explain his political career at a recent meeting of the American Political Science Association in New Orleans. Reagan had "merged his on and off-screen identities" long before he entered politics, Rogin said, "and the confusion between life and film produced 'Ronald Reagan,',, the im­ age that has fixed our gaze." Living in a partly fantasy world "makes him out of touch" with real­ ity, said Rogin. "He says, 'I've seen Rarabo, and next time I'll know what to do about the hostages.' That's a fantasy. You can't go into Vietnam and save the hostages like Rambo does in the movie. But I'm not sure the presi­ dent really understands that this is not a way to operate." Rogin also cites, as an example of tjie power of film, events on th£ day of the assassination attempt against Reagan by John W. Hinckley, Jr., who was himself imitating the plot of a movie, "Taxi Driver." Reagan, shot hours before the 1961 Academy Awards, appeared in a pre-taped message on a screen, speaking to the Hollywood assembly as if the shooting never had occurred. In his message, the president said: "Film is forever. It is the motion picture that shows all of us not only how we look and sound, but -- more important -- how we feel." Americans seeing the Academy Awards on television watched anoth­ er audience in Hollywood watching another screen which showed a healthy Reagan -- while the presi­ dent lay in a hospital bed. This, said Rogin, "climaxed, in an • a • > * , Actor Ronald Reagan (center) finds a secret message in the heel of a shoe in the "B" movie "Murder in the Air," in which he starred in the 1940s. A political science professor, Michael Rogin, that I UPI phoi.1 i, at the University of California suggests thai President Reagan's fascination with a "Star Wars" missle defense may reflect the plot and action of this film. uncanny way, Reagan's personal project: the creation of a disembod­ ied self that, by rising above real inner conflicts, would reflect back to the president and all the rest of us not only how he looked and sounded but -- more important -- how he felt and who he was." As evidence of Reagan's identifi­ cation with the movie world instead of the real world, Rogin also cites the president's use of lines from films, like the recent reference to Rambo. "I am paying for this micro­ phone," Reagan told his rivals in the 1960 presidential primary debate in New Hampshire. It was a line from the old movie, "State of the Union." "Where do we find such men?" Reagan asked in a D-Day commem­ oration speech. This was from "The Bridges at Toko-Ri." "The Force is with us," the presi­ dent said in defending his so-called "Star Wars" missile defense plan -- an allusion to the movie "Star Wars." Responding to criticism of his tax plan, Reagan challenged critics to "Make my day," a line delivered by Clint Eastwood in "Sudden Impact." Reagan chose the music from his own favorite film, "Kings Row," as the fanfare for his 1960 inauguration The trouble with all this, says Ro gin, is that it allows the president "to disown aggression and enact it at one and the same time..." New Sigma 9000™ Chassis with 100* IC/Solid State microcondensed circuitry, long Life VHF Tuner has unique contacts that ensure precise tuning and long term reliability. 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