Volume 29, Number 5 · April 1, 1982
The Supply-Side Star
By Robert Mazzocco
In a less complex age, the Thirties, say, when opinion polls first began, 'free spirit' and 'rugged individualist' could, on occasion, blend in the 'little people' heroes of Frank Capra—a Mr. Deeds or a Mr. Smith. By the end of the Second World War, with the constant acceleration of events, the increasing theatricalization of issues and ideas, and the ubiquitous Soviet threat, these ideal types, the irreverence of the free spirit and the ruthlessness of the rugged individualist, appear more and more as polar types, become now truly larger than life, and thus, in cyclic fashion, tend to comment on themselves and the country as well.
Feature, 5055 words
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