Film and Radio Guide (Oct 1945-Jun 1946)

48 FILM AND RADIO GUIDE Volume XII, No. 4 Joseph Stucchi and a girl named Olga Balinoff. There was also a 1937 reference to “the natives of Peru” who “would kill a man for a peso.” In comment on these stereotypes the Bureau of Applied Social Research decided “None of these characters could have appeared in a current edition.” The comic cartoon books of 1944 assigned similar names to heroes and villains alike. Thus the “bad guy” is, by inference, just as Anglo-Saxon as the “good guy,” to wit : Heroes Gregg Saunders Dick Grayson Bruce Wayne Slam Bradley Steve Trevor Shorty Morgan Villains Sam Maxon Horace Manton George Smith Ted Swan Miggs Morgan Mart Mink In drawing the heroes the artists make them “prettier” and more clean-cut. The villains have faces that are more plastic, misshapen but not notably stereotyped in the “dirty foreigner” tradition. In handling Germans the cartoon books have, however, veered to (a) stupid-robot-withmonocle or (b) ridiculous nincompoop, neither type being realistic. Issues arising from national, racial, or religious minorities simply do not exist in most cartoon books. By this omission most of the publishers of comics at least avoid offense. All-American Comics has taken a commendably progressive stand by treating the problems of militarism in Germany realistically in cartoon form a n d repeatedly portraying the heroism of American Negro fighters in this war. On the general subject of cartoon books, the Bureau of Applied Social Research has this to say: “The heroes and villains are differentiated in terms of status or occupation, rather than in terms of ‘AngloSaxon vs. Foreigner’ differences. The heroes are detectives, reporters, Army Intelligence Officers, whereas the villains are professional criminals. The essential social evil of all the villains as presented is that no environmental factors are ever suggested as possible explanations of delinquent personalities.” Comic cartoon book publishers who were interviewed by the Columbia University researchers, testified as follows : “The heroes must be ‘American’ because that is what children expect and because the continuous nature of their adventures makes it necessa)’y to avoid the use of any minority group which might lose popularity in the future. “That villains, in contrast, must also be free of associations with minorities because the comic cartoon manufacturers have learned from past trouble to expect future trouble from such sources.” In short, the comic cartoon book industry seems to have been responsive to public criticism and has already desisted from the more objectionable utilization of racial stereotypes. They do not on the whole recognize any social responsibility to enhance democracy or e.xemplify the practice of group reconciliation and harmony. “We are interested in circulation primarily,” commented one expert in this field, adding, without malice, “Can you imagine a hero named Cohen?” (The Writers’ War Board can.^ — Editor.) Radio Programs The broadcasting fraternity has been arguing for years as to whether “Amos ’n’ Andy” helps or hurts the Negro race. Some Negroes do, some don’t object to the series. Another continuing argument revolves around “Rochester” on the Jack Benny program. This presentation is good-natured and picture s “Rochester” as quick-witted and wise, yet it is .stereotyped on all usual counts — addiction to drink, dice, wenching, and razors. All of the American networks prohibit offense to minorities. Dr. Reddick has testified that radio gives them the fairest treatment of any mass medium. That heroes and heroines in radio drama tend invariably to be white, Protestant Anglo-Saxons remains true. They practically never attend either Catholic Mass or Jewish Temple. Oddly enough there is nothing particularly Irish about the serial called The O’Neils and nothing particularly Jewish beyond a vague dialect about Rise of the Goldbergs. Perhaps the one frank effort on radio to exploit the comic Jewish stereotype was Abie’s Irish Rose, now off the air. Commenting upon the wise old Jewish bookseller in the serial Life Can Be Beautifnl, the Bureau of Applied Social Research stated: “The very intellectual superiority of the old man differentiates him, not in degree, but in principle from the hero group, just as it would be in the case of an Indian yogi, bestowed with ancient and maybe super-natural wisdom.” In recent years a former complaint of Negroes that radio programs did not accord them titles of respect has been largely corrected. It’s now “Miss Lena Horne” or “Mr. Paul Robeson.” There have been a number of instances in which Negroes have appeared in dramatic casts with no mention of their race. This appears to be much valued by Negroes. On the other hand, many people sympathetic to Negroes think it desirable to state their color when giving recognition to their achievements. Newsreels Years ago social critics were bemoaning what they called “our newsless newsreels.” This particular form of communica