The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1921-11-10
WHO IS YOUR HERO?
Every Man His Own Hero SAYS
David W. Griffith Noted
Movie Director
By David Wark Griffith

picture producers that he may be said
to be in a class by himself. His grasp
of picture making is only eQualed by
his grasp Of the cinema's future, the
needs and wants of the public, and the
motion picture is a part of every man S
life.l
In introducing motion pictures as
Americas fourth or fifth largest in
dustry, n might also identify them
as Americas largest and most popu
lar target for criticism.
Where lives a person who hasn't
said: THE movies are awful; or
said something to that effect?
That is as it should be. 1t proves
motion pictures are important and pro-
crossing. You hear no such criticism
from all sides for our American music,
painting, writing or stage. That is
because the public does not expect any
great improvement in these arts, but
does expect it in motion pictures.
A savage and ruthless denunciation
of motion pictures by one of the most
prominent dramatic critics in this
country, first awakened me to the fact
that motion pictures were to become
the dominent educational and enter
tainment force in the world. | was
too busy at the time to give much
thought to the future. Blu | realized
hat this shrewd gentleman saw in
them something more powerful than
his beloved stage or he could not have
spurred his thoughts to such a high
tide of fierce protest.
We do not spend much time crit
cising something unimportant or dying.
If the public ever stops complaining
about it's motion pictures, we shall be-
come alarmed.
Criticism has its fads and fancies
just as much as anything else. At
present it is popular to criticise the
motion pictures harshly. In a way J
feel that prohibition has had something
to do with this public irritability re-
garding pictures. People substituted
the motion picture shows for the Gus
tomary drinking diversion. And quar-
relied with the films because they
didn't get the same effect.
There need be no alarm about mo-
ton pictures as long as the makers
strive to interpret life as naturally
as they can. Superficial critics shout
with outraged despair about something
in a motion picture not being realistic.
Realism isn't the important thing.
Naturalism is.
Court room scenes, | believe, are
criticised more generally than any
others in motion pictures. That is be-
cause Mr.. and Mrs. Audience went to
court in a condition of high interest
when either they or close to
them was involved in the action, and
whatever occurred affected them WV
idly. They remember how impressed
they were with everything occurring.
When they are not so impressed by
a court DON scene in a picture, they
Immediately think it is badly done.
If any of the details are not exactly
as they remember, they think that is
the reason. These few demand de-
tailed realism that would be boring be-
yond tolerance to the other millions.
The critics should pay more atten-
ton to naturalism and less to realism.
They keep running after rabbits in
stead of following the fox.
1t will be several decades yet before
producers can make motion pictures
that do not also classify as entertain
ment for every grade of intelligence.
America has no sincere or even con.
scious interest in art. 1t is first and
almost completely interested in indus
try. One can prove it by a thousand
means.
For instance. Your hero is your.
self. Then the national hero becomes
the one who expresses in the highest
degree the achievement the people Of
the nation would like to achieve in
dividually.
Until recently we were all a fight
ing people, and our heroes were fight.
ers. But now we have no soldier for
a national hero, even though the great
est of our wars has just ended.
should say that the popular hero
of America today is Henry Ford.
When he makes some changes in
his plant and pays his debts, the pub
lis is so interested that the metropoli.
tan newspapers print three and four
columns on their front pages about it,
and continue to comment for days.
Now we will make a comparison.
If a person we're to show a motion
picture ten times better than any yet
made; and he were to show this with
music better than any ever composed
in America; and if he were to give
away as a souvenir a volume of poetry
far better than any yet written in
America; and he were to have painted
on each of these volumes a miniature
better than anything yet by an Ameri-
can artistic you suppose if this were
done, the newspapers of this country
would give it three columns on the
front page?
Indeed not, and the editors would
be silly to give such space for If they