Juvenile delinquency (1955)

76 JUVENILE DELINQUENCY decency, fair play, and commercial honesty and seem to be approach- ino- that line that suggests we only go from here to obscenity. With apparently good reasons, the Hollywood producers have many times claimed that American films reflecting the better aspects of our national experience, our culture, oui- character and ideals have helped to create to the world favorable impressions of what we call very proudly "the American way of life." Thus the film people tacitly acknowledge the power of the movies toward public attitudes and thinking. Therefore, programs glorifying crimes and criminals, con- doning loose morals or revealing low forms of living must have a cor- respondingly damaging effect or. at least, a potentiality that way. Perhaps more so because of the fascination of evil and the inequitable impact of violence on the imagination of young people. There are films whicli polish the apple for America, so to speak. But they are not enough, if, as so often happens, it is the same old apple with which Eve temped Adam, and by this time lias gotten rather rotten at the core. Without discounting the highly dramatic and technical merits of some of the films that I could mention, I would cite Blackboard Jungle, The Wild One, Big House U. S. A., Kiss Me Deadly, Black Tuesday, Cell 24oo, Death Kow, among many films having a poten- tially harmful influence on behavior patterns, particularly those of young men and women at a high pitcli of sexual curiosity and imitativeness. It is difficult and fairly inaccurate to connect by documentation this increase of crime and immorality on the screen, with the current alarm- ing rise in juvenile delinquency. However, my personal observations over some considerable ]:)eriod, borne out by the findings of some police investigators, turn up quite disturbing indications. When Marlon Brando in The Wild One was in release it played at many children's matinees. It attracted large numbers of young people, including youth- ful motorcycle parties, such as in the film, was shown terrorizing peace- ful conununities. I saw young men at several of these shows dressed like Brando in leather jackets. It was clear they identified themselves with the ar- rogant character he played in the film. And they put on his swagger, and some of them went off recklessly on their motorcycles, just like the gang in the picture. I wouldn't suggest that this impression was a deep or permanent one. I do say it was not a good one. It to some extent immediately under- mined them with respect to the authority, at least to the management of the theater. And I think we have had, even before this chain of films, a number of films dealing with bad cops, bad policemen, in which the emphasis was developed against good law an^l order by lowering the respect of youth for police activities and personnel. Now, Chief Parker told me himself that he felt that the effect was not only on juveniles here, but upon adults who, because they lost that respect and sense of cooperation with the law, might tend not to in- struct children in such proper respect. Xow, more recently, among the large number of youths attending Blackboard Jungle, some of the theater managements reported un- usually loud, noisy, belligerent behavior and some disturbances which followed on the parks or the streets. For obvious reasons it is more