By Cheryl Felicia Rhoads

"She knows, she knows" is a line uttered by my favorite character, portrayed on stage and film based on the real-life experience of the late Annie Sullivan, who taught Helen Keller. Helen had been both blind and deaf since early childhood. The teacher is jubilant as her student realizes that her hand gestures communicate the concept of "water".  For Keller it is the epiphany for one long held captive in the dark.

Hollywood may be experiencing a revelation similar to that experienced by Helen Keller.  Crisis is the Greek word for opportunity. The aftermath of September 11th presents a great opportunity to the entertainment industry. Before the terrorist attacks, Hollywood embraced many values that were markedly different from mainstream America. But since that day, that cultural gap has narrowed.
 
The film industry has always reflected its times and has also been instrumental in shaping popular culture. The increasingly negative influences foisted by Hollywood upon the rest of society, particularly children, has been an area of deep concern to me.

In the past decade, Hollywood’s steady influx of unsavory material has been relentless. For example the show, "Friends" has been anything but friendly to the average parent of a ten-year old. Programs that promote promiscuous sex have severe consequences for young people. Like it or not, the entertainment community has been instrumental in leading the rest of our society in the movement towards moral relativism.

Many of today’s writers and producers got their start in the atmosphere of phony sexual freedom and anti-establishment rebel worship that dominated most of the 1960’s. In 1962, Anne Bancroft won an Oscar for her role of the courageous teacher Annie Sullivan in "The Miracle Worker." But by 1969, Maggie Smith won the same award for her anti-hero portrayal of a hedonistic teacher in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie."
 
While I admire the inspirational traits of the Annie Sullivan character, I worry that my peers too often emulate the caviler attitudes of Jean Brodie.

As an actress, writer, and teacher, it has been my privilege to mentor students, some of whom may be on the verge of stardom. However, it is distressing to see how often trashy material now passes for normal entertainment.
 
In recent decades, there’s been an emphasis on "edgy" scripts filled with political correctness. It was a far cry from the Hollywood Canteen-culture that once bestowed an Oscar to James Cagney for the overtly nationalistic film "Yankee Doodle Dandy". The events of September 11th seem to have reawakened a patriotic impulse that recalls those World War II days.

This year I have been encouraged to observe an emerging generation of actors and writers who in many ways may exhibit more maturity than their older "Baby Boom" counter-parts that still dominate the cultural landscape.

For example, 17 year old-actress Liza Baron, the daughter of two Hollywood producers, went to her principal at the legendary Hollywood High to demand that there be silent respect paid to the victims of the terrorists.

Actress Marie Downing, 26, who recently worked on the TV sitcom "King of Queens." Downing states that she "never took being an American for granted." She adds, "the rules imbedded into our society are far preferable to the chaos of some other cultures." Current events have made Downing decide to be even more forthright in her career and all aspects of her life.

Patrick Nagle, 25, just completed a film co-starring veteran performer Wilford Brimley. The younger actor declared "the honor of building the nation’s confidence falls on the shoulders of the industry’s best and brightest." He also feels that "maybe a new John Wayne or Jimmy Stewart will rise to invigorate the American spirit by conveying the strength and courage of the everyday citizen."

Nagle believes that his generation may step up to the plate just as proudly as those heroic legends of another era. These newcomers might even be joined by many of the current entertainment establishment.

An early example of this trend is Emmy Award-winner David Milch, a former producer/writer of "NYPD Blue."  Milch wrote a stirring letter to the The New York Times on October 8th which stressed the need for prayers for "the brave, determined defenders of freedom and human dignity."
 
The playwright Maxwell Anderson once noted that an audience only feels satisfied when a hero is forced to confront a moral dilemma and becomes a better person.  Helen Keller couldn’t relieve her misery by others "feeling her pain." But Annie Sullivan’s tough love made Keller’s escape possible.
 
I recently visited The National Cathedral in Washington DC in order to see for myself this holy place where President Bush and others paid tribute to our fellow Americans lost on September 11th.  I reflected on my own path as an artist and teacher, and also prayed for my friends and colleagues immersed in their own struggles in Hollywood.

I concluded my visit with a guided tour. Ironically, as the guide finished her presentation to our group, she gestured to the wall behind me. She told us it contained the remains of the great teacher Annie Sullivan and her famous student Helen Keller. 

Previous Page :: :: Main Page