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Wednesday, April 10, 1C34
Academy Award-winning movie
endearing, but not progressive
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During the 1976 presidential cam
paign, Jimmy Carter called the UJS.
tax system a national disgrace. He
was correct, of course, but two pres
idents and more than sev en years
later, no one has done anything to
solve the problem.
A complex system of exemptions
and loopholes designed to help the
middle class has had just the oppo
site effect The rich are taking-advantage
of the system to avoid pay
ing their fair share and the middle
class the men and women the
system is supposed to benefit end
up paying the difference.
According to a recent Newsweek
article, the number of exemptions
: has more than doubled in the last 15
years. As aresult, the tax base has
; become increasingly narrow and the
basic rate has been forced up. Taxes
dont go down, they just get shifted
to those who dont have the proper
exemptions.
The most disgusting feature of
our tax structure, however, is that it
has been a bonanza for cheaters.
What Newsweek calls the tax gap
the difference between what tax
payers owe and what actually gets
paid now is running at about
$100 billion. That's more than half
the estimated budget delicti, for next
year and it's a 228 percent increase
since 1973, the magazine reported.
The United States desperately-
j v i Ellen
I. v ! Goodman
needs to restructure its tax system.
President Reagan apparently has
asked Treasury Secretary Den aid
Regan to prepare a set of tax reform
recommendations that will be pres
ented after the November elections.
Congress should give serious con
sideration to these and other prop
osals. Whether the nation chooses
to maintain its progressive tax rate
or, as some have suggested, convert
to a flat rate, the loopholes within
the system must be closed. That will
force more people to pay their fair
share and lighten the load on the
honest taxpayer.
Congress also should consider les
sening the income tax burden by
creating a national sales tax. Such a
tax likely would be charged to the .
manufacturer who, in turn, would ,
pass it on to the consumer. The
inflationary effect could be minim
ized by implementing the program
gradually. Everyone would pay the
same rate and it would make it diffi
cult for the rich to avoid paying
their share.
Such reforms may be drastic, but
they seem to be in order. If the Uni
ted States stays on its path of pro
viding relief by creating more loop
holes, we may see a tax revolt of .
unmatched proportions. The list of
tax cheaters will continue to grow,
but those who get stuck with the bill
wont continue to pay.
Now that it has been duly elected the
best movie of the year by the Oscar
constituency, it's time for me to con
fess something. I am one of about three
people in America who were under-1
whelmed by Terms of 'Endearment.
lit me say right off that I am a
sucker for movies about mothers and
daughters. To see Endeam-ent, I play
ed hooky one afternoon, bought a tub
of popcorn and prepared to wallow. I
left a coupleof hours and a couple of
hankies later feeling, well, thirsty, and
just a bit "had."
Sure, I would have given the movie a
couple of stars, even a couple of Oscars.
Jack Nicholson and Shirley MacLaine
got v, hat they deserved. But the further
away I am from that solo trip to the
flicks, the more the movie bugs me. Or
the more Emma, the daughter played
by Debra Winger, bugs me.
I'm not exactly sure why. In part, I
found myself agreeing with the mother,
Aurora, who said all sorts of blunt,
tactless and true things mothers are
not supposed to utter to their grown
daughters. To wit, on the eve of Emma's
wedding: 'You're not special enough to
overcome a bad marriage." Or worse
yet: "How is your life going to get better
if you're going to keep having children
with that man?"
But Emma was the heroine, the
earthy, sexy 1930s heroine of this film.
As such, she reminded me of every
harried, struggling, overwhelmed and
undervalued junior-faculty wife of the
1950s. In yesterdays of academe, they
had about as much control over their
lives as impoverished camp followers.
Maybe I'm too close to those memories
to find Emma "refreshing."
The ordinary marriage of Emma and
Flap mother knew best seems like
a set piece of the past transplanted
into the present. Flap's lack of imagi
nation leads him into the arms of a
graduate student. Emma's modest re
bellion leads her to an affair with a
timid bank manager.
I am not saying these things dont
happen anymore or anywhere. The'
movie is not supposed to be cinema
vcrite or cinema consciousness-raising.
But for those of us who continually
hope and believe that something has
changed for men and women in the
last SO years, the moviemakers might
have given Emma a chance.
The "new woman' portrr:ts were
dreadful The New York professional
harpies who deflate cur Midwestern
Gal Emma in one scene arc a classic
update of the ZQ3 female: Career
Woman as Bitch. The graduate stu
dent who's having an af.V.ir with Flap is
almost a parody of the modern we-all-have-to-grow-and-change
school of
homewreckers. Emma's best friend is
too rich to be a rele model And Mom is
too eccentric. .
I suppose divorce would have lurch
ed the movie abruptly forward in time.
The next scene might have shown her
driving from the babysitter to her job
at the Shopwell to her night class at
the university and yelling at Flap over
the phone because he's late with his
child-support checks. -
But the writers were determined not
to let Emma fall into the clutches of
current cliches, solving her problems
with divorce, a career or counseling.
Anybody who remembers the ending
of An Unmarried Woman Give up
Alan Bates? Are you kidding? can
sympathize with that. But the only
alternative they came up with was
cancer.
I think this is what finally made me
feel manipulated. They preferred to
keep this young mother attractive,
engaging, soulful and female by letting
her die. And die so well The terms of
her endearment were awfully high.
I know, I know, all this is nit-picking.
This was a movie about the sinew of
mother-daughter connections. The
energy, the humor, the pathos are stuff
worth playing hooky for. When you
leave the theater still caring about the
characters, the movie-makers, have
done something right.
But I have a strong sense that the
writers gave baby Emma a terminal
disease because they didnt know what
else to do with her. It was cancer or a
life crisis. They didn't want Emma to
do what many women have done since
the 1930s: take control of their lives. I
still wonder what Emma would have
been like if they'd just let her grow up.
'1234, Th tstlan Clctt fcw5r Company
WisMnjton Post V.'.-ttera Creep
At the polls
jMecQon 'coverage Toartoj
U.S.
curcu:
Relations between the United States and Russia
are at an all-time low. Despite the threat this poses,
not only to the future exist ence of mankind, but to
the Summer Olympics as well, it doesnt appear
things are going to get better.
The main problem seems to be that every time we
sit down to talk with the Soviets, we talk about
nuclear weaponry and mutual destruction. Good
ness, that's bound to put a crimp in any kind cf
Moscow, this is Dan Rather. Tonii?hf FWti An TsrntnH
"84: The Sonets go to the pc's. Well provide com
plete coverage of todays elections, in the Politburo,
after this message for delicious Campbell's Borscht!
Rather. We're back. Tonight, the big one, the run
for the red so to speak. The polls have just closed, so
let's take a look at the vote thus far. With 1 percent
of the votes tallied, CDS News is projecting Konstan
tin Chemenko, the Communist party leader, the
newpresident. Chemenko is leading by a 93 percent
to 1 perrtn margin. Bruce Morton is standing by
with the results cf cur exit polling.
Morten: Thanks, Dan. Exclusive CBS exit polls
reveal some interesting statistics. For example, 100
percent cf those participating li today's vote listed
their party affZiation as Communist
Rather Well, that certainly signifies a giant leap
forward In support for the Communist party here.
Morton: Further, 100 percent responded "no" to
the question "Do you think Chemenko is too far to
the left?" That breaks down to 100 percent women
1C0 percent men and most revealinglv, 100 percent
c f the college graduates.
Esther: I guess that lends credence to the notion
that college graduates are more left In their political
orientation. Any ether observations, Bruce?
- Morton: Net really. Just remember, Dan, these are
statistics. They may very plus cr minus five percent
Fhas, from my observations, Fd say this election was
" : .
y
Before we can hope to talk with the Soviets about
the proliferation cf arsenals, cultural exchange
muet first take place. Only after we better under
star.d each ether's cultures can we hope to discuss
ITS.
Fez exa-plec Last Wedr.ce ley, the Soviet Fcl:
buro elected Ec nstantin CLerrenko the necvlt
president We should have sent a network crew to
Ruseda to shenrthen how Americans, cover eleetiens.
Soviet announcer: We interrupt cur regularly
scheduled literary game sho, Tic-Tcx-Ikterjvcly
to bring you a special nerrs update.
.e.c.j w.e,i---. Lor,c r,.n
w S . .. . .
Rather: Well, it's never over until the fat lady sings.
Heh Heh Heh.
Morton: Good one, Dan. Heh heh.
RatfrdS'ow let's go to Lesley Stahl, standing out
side Chemenko campaign headquarters. Lesley?
Stahl Bruce?
Rather: No, Dan. Lesley, how would you describe
the atmosphere there?
Stahl: Docile, Dan. In fact, unless I'm mistaken, I
think everyone's asleep.
Rather: Maybe they're holding the celebration
somewhere else.
Stahl No, as a matter of fact, about five minutes
Ego, the president-elect came cut and told me he
was going to sleep and that I should leave. -
Rather. Did he say anythng else, Lesley?
Stahl: Good night, Dan.
Rather: O h, good night, Lesley. Lc t's r.o back to our
tote board. The polls have been closed a little more
tnan ten minutes and with 100 percent of the vote
in, Konstantin Chemenko, as CDS projected earlier
tonight, is the winner by a S3 percent to 1 percent
margin. All were waiting for now is a concession
message from Chernenko's opposition
RANG BANG
Rather: And there it is. From CBS News In Mos
cow, this is Dan Rather saying good nhht
Announcer: W
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