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Much like Stephen Hawking — the brilliant astrophysicist who understands the universe better than any other man alive, yet sits drooling in a wheelchair and talks like a robot — if you made up Patty Hearst for a work of fiction people would say it was too far-fetched. This documentary isn’t as well made as the similar and also recent “The Weather Underground,” but the specifics of the Patty Hearst saga are just. . .so fucking perfect that any opportunity to just sit and ponder the significance of the story and its signifiers strikes a very pleasing chord with me. And to listen to those tapes! To actually hear Patty, with her lazy California rich girl accent (or is it the accent of the brainwashed?) say “Death to the Fascist Insect that Preys on the Life of the People”. . .I dunno, for some reason this excites me. I was surprised to hear on the commentary track how Patty had seen and liked the film. My reading of it was an indictment of her — that her power and influence got her out of a serious prison sentence that many of her “comrades” are still serving. Also, there were a couple of aspects that aren’t here (no doubt cut for time) which is the sexual aspect of her time with the SLA and the curious connection with future would-be Gerald Ford assassin Sara Jane Moore. Something else untouched, but I think telling, is perhaps Ms. Hearst is still suffering from the “Stockholm Syndrome.” Once she got her pardon and went back to Mommy and Daddy, who did she marry? Her bodyguard.