American Experience: Guerilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst The story is told by former members of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) who came out of hiding to speak for the first time, and by archival footage of the Hearst kidnapping that was rescued from a dumpster behind a San Francisco television station. Under the title "Neverland," this film was a hit at Sundance and the Berlin Film Festival. When's it on? Visit the Site Download Questions (PDF file - Adobe Reader required) If you remember the incident firsthand talk about how you reacted when it happened. Do you think this event deserved the publicity it got? How do you explain the media frenzy? Stockholm Syndrome describes the behavior of kidnap victims who, over time, become sympathetic to their captors. Patty Hearst eventually became an accomplice of the SLA, taking on an assumed name and assisting them in several bank robberies. After her re-capture, she denounced the group and her involvement. Do you consider Patty Hearst a brainwashed victim or willing participant? Why? What's your judgment of the way the police handled the raid that resulted in the death of five SLA members? Many SLA members were middle-class kids who hadn't suffered racism or significant privation. The film suggests that some members of the SLA were heavily influenced by "Robin Hood" stories. What do you think? How do you explain their involvement with the SLA? Have you ever known anyone who was a member of a "radical" group? What were his or her motives? President Jimmy Carter commuted Patty Hearst's prison sentence after she served two years of a seven year sentence for a bank robbery she participated in during her time with the SLA. President Bill Clinton later pardoned Patty Hearst for the bank robbery conviction during his presidency. Do you think the charges against her should have been dropped?
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