How did we get to this almost paradoxical situation?
Let’s go back to 1973. Patricia Hearst is a 19-year-old girl who lives with her partner on the UC Berkeley campus at the time of her kidnapping. If they kidnapped her that day, it was her because she came from a very rich family: her grandfather’s name was William Randolph Hearstthe one to whom he is dedicated Citizen Kanethe movie ofOrson Welles. At the beginning of the 20th century he was a rival of Pulitzer, the founder of the popular press.
In other words, given his pedigree, his kidnapping is already making headlines. But the case is even more unusual given the reasons for the kidnapping. The kidnappers have the strange name of the Symbionese Liberation Army. Symbionaise, from symbiosis, which in biology designates an interaction between two different species. The underlying idea would be that of a positive interaction between races. Its founder is black, but he is the only black in the group, he escaped from prison where he rubbed shoulders with members of Black Power. The group advocates armed struggle. He regularly sends audio cassettes in which we hear Patricia Hearst say, for example: “Mom, dad, I’m fine. I’m with a combat unit that has automatic weapons. These people don’t miss the point. They are willing to die for what they do and I hope you do what they say dad, and do it quickly.“. The demands of this Symbionese Liberation Army are directed at the marginalized population. They want Father Hearst to distribute aid to all the homeless in California: the equivalent of 70 dollars for each of them, that is, several million people. It seems complicated to achieve it. Patricia Hearst’s father tries, trucks loaded with food leave to distribute food aid, but it is an organizational disaster and most of the time the trucks return with the bulk of their merchandise.
