Propaganda Theater - Middleton Family At The World's Fair

This discussion will be hosted and moderated by Ceit Hustedde (Longtime member of Buddytree)

## Details

This film was created to advertise Westinghouse's exhibits at the World's Fair, not as propaganda per se. But what is advertising if not propaganda lite?

The film: https://www.filmpreservation.org/sponsored-films/screening-room/the-middleton-family-at-the-new-york-world-s-fair-1939

Questions:

1. Do you agree with the categorization of this film as propaganda? Why or why not?

2. Does the boy's complaint in the beginning sound familiar? How was his situation different from that of young people today, if you believe it is?

3. What is the message behind the daughter's relationships to different men and her attitude towards love?

4. Will people in 5000 years be able to appreciate the time capsule?

5. What purpose does Nick the art professor have in the story?

6. Do the grandmother's comments on work, time, women and slavery resonate with you? Are you surprised that a woman of her time would have these opinions, or is it more surprising that they are included in a film of this kind?

7. What companies could put on such a spectacle today? How would they assure us that the future is truly bright?

8. Do you find such optimism jarring from 1939, even in a US production?