The Port Gibson reveille. [volume] (Port Gibson, Miss.) 1890-current, 1921-08-04
CHILDREN AND THE .MOYIEs'

The other day man who Is little
interested in moving pictures, and sci
dom sees them, departed from his us
ual habit and attended Saturday
afternoon performance in the city in
which he livesa residential suburb
Of one Of the greatest cities Of the
country and madeu p chiefly Of mid
dle-class people, which means Just
average Americans. What the man
saw interested him very deeply and
may interest others.
He noticed first of all that the
patrons kere mostly children-ialt
least two thirds Of them, and prob
ably three fourths. They were Of
all ages, from high-schoo pupils
down to youngsters Of not more than
five years; but most Of them were Of
the grade-school age say from seven
to twelve years Of age.
The chief attention, the real thrill
ler," was play in which an innocent
man Is accused Of a murder because
a revolver was found on his person.
In the attempt to make him confess
the police gave him the "third de-
gree;V in other words, they string
him up by the thumbs and otherwise
torture him until his agony upsets mis-
mind and he sees visions that furnish
a clue to the real murder. Another
part Of the program was a triangle"
play, in which two men love the same
woman, and there Is the usual shoot
ing and the usual melodramatic che
roisn.Y As relish, and to tighten
the afternoon, there were the antics
Of Mutt and Jeff.
What most impressed the man was
the fierce interest Of The children and
the alertness with which they took
in and even anticipated the action
on the screen and what is meant. All
about him were blase little "movie
FANS Of eight and ten years who saw
the trend Of the play quicker than
he could see 1t, and who appiauded
whatever pleased them by yelling at
the top Of their voices and stamping
their feet, until the theatre was
dust-filled pondemonium. The man
went home with the feeling that he
had spent the most depressing after
noon in years.
There Is nothing unusual in what
he saw The same thing is going on
everywhere in America every day in
the year, and no one seems to think
much about it. The question is, What
is It doing to the children2
There used to be old-fashioned
parents who thought that dime now
els were bad reading for their boys
and cheap love stories bad reading
for their girls; but there is no read
ling that presents or can present things
50 wildly as the moving picture
screen presents them; and much Of
what it presents is intrinsically more
vitiating both TO mind and TO morals
than all the dime novels that were
written. What a charming picture
childhood presents when il appears
as sophisticated little men and wo-
men passing judgment and making
criticisms upon murders, holdups
problem plays" and matrimonial in.
felicitiesl
We hear sporadic talk now and ther
Of censorships, but no censor and nc
board Of eensors can do the work that
belongs to fathers and mothers. That
work is to keep themselves informed
Of what moving pictures are instruc'
tive or wholesomely stimulating tC
the migration Of inspiring, and there
are plenty Of them ,--and what ones
are moral and intellectual claptrap
and then to make sure that their chill
dren do not see the pernicious kind.
youths Companion.