I was having a comment exchange over at Crowded Head yesterday (pop over and meet Lou). Given the subject and the obvious necessity for a culture shift toward neighborliness, I believe a discussion of Meet John Doe is in order. Meet John Doe, directed by Frank Capra, was a jewel in the careers of Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. It was filmed in 1941, just as WW 2 was repairing the financial ruin that defined the 30s, and the general population was reeling from hunger and hopelessness. Stanwyck plays a newspaper reporter, Ann Mitchell, who is about to lose her job. Her father has died, and she is the sole supporter for her and her mother. Out of desperation and using her father's populist writings, she submits a fictitious letter from a down-and-out man, a hobo, and it saves her job. It also launches a series of events that cannot be corked, even by a power-hungry man with political aspirations. Here is the letter that sets up the story: Dear Miss Mitchell: Four years ago, I was ...