Reel and Slide (Jan-Sep 1919)

REEL and SLIDE 13 Handling the Problem of Juvenile Films in the Orient Special Exhibitions With Lectures Declared Best Method to Follow Censorship by Welfare Workers Proposed, Also Time Limit on all Shows JWMHHMH By Bulchand Karamchand, B. A. (Bombay) (Superintendent, Nava Vidyalaya High School, Hyderabad, Sind.) In Two Parts— Part I AN increasingly powerful force has been acting on the social life of all civilized countries during the last ten years. This force is the cinematograph which, originating in pure scientific discovery, has been developed so skillfully and so broadly that it has now become one of the most popular forms of entertainment and education all over the world. Cinema films make a very wide appeal. They depict all the varied manifestations of the human genius, thrilling adventures, fine romances, moving tragedies, good stories, melodramas, rollicking comedies, items of interesting knowledge. The theaters in which all these are seen are very comfortable. The price of admission i^ within the reach of all classes. The period of entertainment is not long. Little mental effort is required to enjoy the displays. The patrons are both old and young, cultured and uncultured, rich and poor, from West and from East. As a means of entertainment the cinematograph has proved itself to be of remarkable power and of enormous success. It can thrill us with imaginary adventures and also with real adventures such as the entry into the crater of Mt. Vesuvius. It can move us in a wholesome way with historic romance like "Ivanhoe" and with modern classics like "Jess of the D'Ubervilles." It can make us laugh with outrageously funny comedies, though of a rather knockabout type. It can educate us in very many ways such as widening our geographical knowledge or showing us interesting applications and processes of science. It can please us with artistic photography like Mr. Urban's films of the Nile, or "Antony and Cleopatra." All these are performed by the cinematograph with considerable pleasure to their audiences ; they are given through the most powerful sense, the sense of sight, which is a splendid help to mind and memory. In every important town all over the world there are many cinema theaters, though India cannot boast of many of these theaters in proportion to its vast population and large number of important towns. These places of amusement are crowded nightly with people who come again and again and who must evidently be very Scene from educa pleased by the entertainment. Cinema companies are busy in all countries manufacturing new and increasingly interesting films-. The reason for this tremendous popularity and interest in the cinematograph is that the moving pictures possess elements which produce an immediate response in human nature. We like movement. We like stories. We love adventures. We are always pleased by novelties whether of fact or fiction. And we like all these things in pleasant surroundings, in limited time and at little cost. The cinema theaters satisfy all these conditions. As long as human nature does not change cinema theaters will continue to flourish. So far we have taken a very rosy view of the productions of the cinematograph. There is, however, another and most important side. The prevailing tendency of all cinema shows is highly sensational and is carried on to a degree that has produced effects on adults and children which have caused great heart-searching among social workers, leaders of religion, teachers and all interested in striving for human progress. In almost every country of the world opinions by public men and women and by journals of importance have been expressed showing grave anxiety as to the effect of cinema entertainments on the social, spiritual, intellectual and moral welfare of the human race.. Reasons for Popularity of Film Children are peculiarly susceptible to the attractions of the cinema theater. They love excitement, stories, horseplay. In many large towns of Europe and America children flock to the performances in enormous numbers and go aeain and again, some of them as often as three times weeklv. In the schools they are capable of giving their teachers admirable accounts of the contents of the films, thus showing that they followed the performance with absorbing interest and memorized.it well. But the nature of what they saw has given much cause of grave anxiety to parents, teachers, all lovers of children and workers for social progress ; for excessive attention to sex, highly exciting movements, pranks on old people, thieves as heroes, scoffings at law and order are not the foundations on which fine men and women are built. In the above-mentioned continents and in Japan steps have been taken to combat these evils. Effects of Film on Child Mind The effects of moving pictures on the child mind in England were first investigated by Mr. Alfred Perceval Graves, M. A., the well-known Irish author, critic and educationalist, who for thirty-five years was His Majesty's Chief Inspector for London Elementary Schools. In a circular issued by him early in 1913 and signed by distinguished leaders in education and religion, he writes that from evidence supplied to him it has been abundantly proved that the abuses of the cinematograph, even in those countries where popular education may be regarded as being in many respects in advance of England, constitute a grave danger to public morality. Since then the subject has been discussed at many conferences of educational and social bodies, and in 1914 the Educational Cinematograph Association was formed under distinguished auspices with Mr. Graves as chairman. The aim of this association is, briefly, to maximize the good effects and minimize the evil effects of moving pictures. Meanwhile in many towns of the British Isles local authorities have taken various steps to avoid the abuses and to utilize the good effects of the cinema. Some have limited the hour's of children's visits. Others have permitted special children's exhibitions to be held. Others again, like London, have encouraged the production and use of films of direct educational value such as Messrs. Pathe's or Mr. Charles M. Urban's nature study series. At the present moment the problem of the cinema and the child is continually cropping up all over the British Isles. A keen observer of the progress of the cinematograph in India wrote to me : "I have vitited Bombay, Delhi, Lahore, Karachi and Calcutta. In Bombay and Calcutta there are decent picture halls which show films of the ordinary kind usually exhibited in England and elsewhere. In most of these exhibitions there are the usual bloodcurdling, sensational picture dramas in which adventure and sex interest predominate. The public go there to be amused and appear to be quite satisfied with what they get. Sometimes very interesting and instructive films of an elevating nature are exhibited, but they are rare. I have seen several Shakespearean plays and some literary novels, i. e.; 'Les Miserables,' 'Monte Cristo' and 'East Lynne,' and they have a popular rush." To this must be added that Mr. J. F. Madan of Calcutta has made attempts to elevate cinema shows by displaying films of general educational value such as Mr. Charles M. Urban's scientific and geographical cinemacolor films. Mr. Madan also arranged special educational programs, but he met with scant support in his important work. The effects of the usual cinema shows have aroused the attention of public bodies like the European Association and of many important journals. Many educationists have been discussing the subject privately. The Sind Gazette states: "Many of the pictures shown have drawn attention to the fact that a censor of cinematographs appears to be as necessary as a news censor." The Advocate (Lucknow) says: "Motor raids for purpose of dacoity open a new chapter in the methods of Indian crime. Bengal, the most intellectual and go-ahead of Indian provinces, has taken the lead in this respect also, and has thereby achieved an unenviable notoriety. While in Bombay, the most advanced town in Western India, cinematographs were first introduced, it was reserved for Calcutta to ape the bandit outlaws of the west ,in their ways of depredation and destruction from cinematograph scenes. It is absolutely necessary in our opinion that cinema films should be subjected to a severe censorship before being exhibited in India, particularly in Bengal, because the evil that emanates from these is apt to be jopied in other parts of the country, however much the people of those parts (Continued on next page.) tional film on India