Film and Radio Guide (Oct 1945-Jun 1946)

FILM AND RADIO GUIDE Volume XII, No. 7 suspecting minds of children. The producers of commercial films are not trying to steal from the unsuspecting minds in the majority of cases. We are beset on every hand by multitudes of experiences and opinions. We must sift these opinions to get the true conceptions and true values from this varied condition in our modern life. The teacher’s job is to select and utilize the experiences of industry. How else can he prepare students to meet life’s problems? Mr. Aughinbaugh makes this statement : “The school pupil must be guaranteed that not one but all sides of any proposition will be given him.” Commercial films, in my opinion, present a viewpoint, and that viewpoint is not to sell children out directly or indirectly to commercial interests. Many of these pictures have been produced to impress the public as to the cpiality and the advantages of a product, and I believe that a manufacturer’s greatest pride in life is to give to the public a lifetime of service for the betterment of society. If we as school teachers have failed and are failing to use propaganda films, or “free” films, if you please, for the benefit of society, we have missed the boat in all of our endeavors. Public schools, commercial concerns, our local, state, and national government are all resorting to the use of propaganda films. If we exclude or “outlaw” all such films, we would outlaw practically every documentary film in existence, including such films as produced by the Office of War Information, the Bureau of Mines, the Department of Agriculture, the Office of InterAmerican Affairs, and all foreign films of every description that are now being circulated in this country, including many fine Canadian films. All are trying to sell something; some idea. As free teachers working in a democracy, claiming the right to express our biased opinions, if you choose to call them such. living in a democracy with freedom of thought and action as a dominating force, how can wc help but feel we have missed the boat if we do not strive to glean the grains of thought from all available sources and weave them into a mature life? Briefly, my point is this : The difficulty is not entirely within the tool itself. The fault is with the operator. How should the tool be used ? How can it be used? Many teachers throughout the country are using these tools effectively and honestly. They work with a purpose, namely, to devolop the individual learner. Our teachers do not believe anyone has all the facts. They realize that there are groups advocating the “left” and groups advocating the “right.” We have the Old Deal and the New Deal. We have all sorts of isms in the commercial world, in our churches, and in our schools. We should attempt to utilize all means, free and otherwise, for a better tomorrow. Mr. Aughinbaugh's Rebuttal Mr. Knight informs us that there has been no research to determine the effect of the school use of commercial promotional films (sometimes called “sponsored films”*) on pupils. Doubtless this is because no college-of *The author does not regard films released by governments as sponsored films. He assumes the ■word “sponsored” to be used as it is in those radio programs in which the sponsor’s “plug” is frankly called “the commercial.” The “plug” in a sponsored film consists of the entire film. education professor has thought to swat a degree candidate with the question. But who cares? We are all pretty well fed up with such researches. For the most part, they merely dangle one more “key” on some brat’s watch chain, like adding another scalp to an Indian’s belt. The research reports are then laid dustily away in the college archives. If there has been no research, as Mr. Knight declares, why bring the subject up? What’s sauce for my gander is sauce for his goose. There still exist (I hope) the Mosaic Code and the Eleventh Commandment, which have been acceptable social law for many years, although neither Moses nor Christ ran a research project before handing them to humanity. But it was on this foundation that civilization and social ethics developed, and thanks to these principles, Christ threw the money-changers out of the Temple. I am only emulating Christ when I seek to kick this same gang of money-changers