The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-03-22
Intolerance A Mass of
Misrepresentation

Iof child-life, and of fallen women.
| to picture as a representative of these
good women a woman VINO, because
she was too unattractive to secure
/ the attention of young men, out OF
IA spirit of narrow envy and Jealousy.
determines to give her money to de-
stroy the pleasures OF others in those
! things which she herself cannot en-
JOY. The screen announces: when
a woman ceases to attract men, she
sometimes turns to reform as Sec
ond choice" And thus Mr.. Griffith
/ endeavors to besmirch the motives OF
the good women of our country who
are deeply and sincerely concerned for
! the betterment of the world
Misrepresentation of Christs Attitude.
/ 1t is really difficult to understand
how Mr.. Griffith can imagine that at
this stage of the growth OF moral
sentiment In our country the real
spirit of his pictures can meet with
! anything but the disapproval Of
thoughtful people. The contrast at
tempted to be made between the toll
erance" OF Christ toward the adulter-
GUS woman and the women of today.
striving to break up houses of i'll
fame, leaves us in doubt as to whether
or not MIR. Griffith thinks that we
should tolerate such legalized prosti-
tuition because Christ did not condemn
the adulterous woman brought to Him
by men who were obliged to confess
that they were equally AS sinful as the
woman. whom they were using in an
effort to entrap Him.
MIR. Grifith's pictures are exagger-
fated SO greatly as Ia verge on the
border of absurdlty, when In what
J seems to be a frenzy of enmlty against
all reform movements. he pictures wo-
men as going into the home OF the
heroine Of the play and engaging In a
rough and tumble fight to take from
her her child. He follows this i'm
possible scene with Il picture Of nurses
In hospital, utterly regardless Of
their obligations. giving up the time
TO troliclng and dancing which should
be used for the children commlrted
TO their care.
Attack Upon Prohibition
Mr.. Griffith then attacks the pro-
hibition reformers. He does not hesi-
tate to picture the Master in the act
Of turning water into wine, and also
represents Him as looking with great
/ pleasure upon a marriage feast in
which the main features were dancing
and drinking TO the point almost OF
r!otous revelry. He contrasts this
with dancing and drinking scene
Of the employees OF great mill, which
, scene was looked upon with great dis
/
because he thought It would weaken
his workmen and make them less fit
for their labor on the next day. In
other words, he attempts to produce
the impression that the zeal oil many
refornners for the prohibition If tho
liquor traffic is caused entirely by
selfish onsiderations-th desire that
workmen may he able to make more
money for their employers.
Il He then ATTEMPTS 10 prONa that D~o-
hihdtton will make n multitude OF
law breakers By pic.urng possible
methods Of running Ia private dtstn-
lery in ones own home.
Exalts Self-indulgencc.
/ In short. the spirit underlying Mr.
Grtfriths play is to exalt seif-tndul~
genee and extreme liberty Of conduct
in all things. He draws no line be-
/ tween proper liberty and extreme IL
Cense. Intolerance" Is pictured as
an effort to restrain men I'm the fudul-
Senoe OF their sppetites or desires re-
Rardless of the affect Of such indui-
gence upon the individual. or the fam
Fly. or society. Not only moderate
drinking. hut the licensed saloon itself
is defended, and all those who would
IN any way endeavor TO show the evils
which come as a result Of following tina
"lusts of the flesh and the Inst OF the
eye and the pride of life" are branded
as "ineddlers"
"Ihe Lust OF the flesh. the Lust Of the
Eye and the Pride of Life
As stated above. the writer does not
/ charge that Mr. Griffith has been hired
by tho brewers and the disttllers and
the white slave traders to develop and
to produce these remarkable pictures
throughout tile country. but he does
! charge that the spirit of '1rtoierance"
is exactly the same spirit as that shown
! ty the brewers and the distillers and
the white slave traders and their fol-
low ers, who cry out against any Kind
! of legislation which tnterferes in any
way with their so-called personal 1ib-
erty" TO crafty 70 the limit the afors-
said lust Of the hesh. lust ~ the eye
and the pride ~ Ute" which St. John
declares to he characteristic Of the
| world and contrary to the will of the
! Father.
A Jewel I'm "a svvfness Snout.
| AS series OF bewildering. eve-in-
| toxioating. cxtravasant and gorgeous