The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1922-02-08
MOVIE FAN DOESN'T
THINK, SAYS MOORE
Dartmouth Professor Says Silent
Drama Hao Little Of Eduoa-
tional Value.

We must admit either that think.
ing is for the few or that the movies
are blight on society,"" said Henry
T, Moore, professor Of psychology at
Dartmouth College addressing the
eighth annual conference of the Win.
ooski Valley Teachers association in
/ the auditorium Of Montpelier high
school Friday evening. The subject
of the address was The Mental Eff
I fects Of the Move Habit" Movies
leave with the fan only images and
! sensations, said Prof. Moore, and in
no way develop voluntary attention,
active thinking, or logical memory. On
the last point, he asked his audience
to attempt to remember the matter
of so called educational films which
they had seen
Movies have vast possibilities in
education, the speaker stated, in the
possibility OF seeing views from every
part OF the globe without leaving the
home town. Yet, asking what goes on
! in the mind of the movie fan, while
he watches the Pickering film, Prof
Moore stated his answer concisely as
nothing "
He had no definite proposal of ac.
tion to make in regard to the movies.
the speaker stated but would prefer
to leave the subject more unsettled.
On no subject is there greater differ.
ence of opinion among unbiased OBJ.
servers, he stated, the views ranging
all the way from the desire for rigid
censorship to conviction that the
national destiny will follow the course
OF the movies.
The movies afford intense day
dreams, Prof Moore stated. speaking
of the psychological need of movie
goers, They bear an analogy to sleep
and dream, both in the physical re
Taxation afforded, and the satisfaction
of untitled emotions The man who
is emotionally satisfied in his daily
work finds little use for the movies
as he finds little need for sleep. Ma
poleon slept very little during his
victories, but after his first defeat
slept for 13 hours. The danger in
movie going is the tendency to live
more and more in the day dream, the
remedy sought defeating It's purpose
= The moye-goer comes to dread more
and more the cold plunge back into
the street and reality
Movie going Is a personal problem
he said, depending on the point al
which the movie begins to give dimin
ishing returns. Dividing moviegoer.
| into three classes, the highly intelli
, gent, the people Of average intelli
( gence, and the mentally deficient, HI
/ stated that the first class retains {
, critical outlook on the movies anC
! does not present real problem Ii
( speaking of the second class, OF which
he used boy with a high schoo
training who has a job at machn,
in factory as an example, the speak
er deplored the tendency of the movies
to reduce hard thinking and hard read
ing. If the alphabet is the creates
step ever taken toward civilization
the movies must be regarded as check
mating civilization, he said They
are pantomime and require no exertiol
OF attention.
The movies we're failure as propa
ganda he stated, leaving a confused i'm
preston made up of horror and senti
ment 'Thrllers." involving grea
personal risk to the actors, are NOR,
subtle than the gladiatoral shows o
ancient times, but the method is tn,
same, since the reason for these risk,
scenes is that they draw money ant
the actors go through with them be
cause they are paid to do so. TIL
! danger in moves of this type, and tn
only danger, in the speakers opinion
! in prize fighting, is the tendency OF
5 the part of the spectators to "a COW
ardly Willingness to see others TAX
chances which they would not" TIL
feeling is OF the same nature as tina
which led to the old signal thumb
down" for death to a fallen gladiator
Many children and all morons attent
! the movies at some times Prof Moor
I said. The children are kept from out
door play and run some danger of ey,
strain, he said, and become impatien
/ with reading. The showing of movie
) with brutality direct sex interest o
? demonstrations of crime makes
: strong appeal to the mentally defec
2 tive, he stated, and the danger lie
in the fact that the mentally defcien
-. person does not consider consequent
ces.