The Washington herald., 1922-08-18
1t Seems to Me
By Haywood Broun.

Authors of popular dramas are
fond of developing the theme that
intelligence. 1t is natural enough
that playwrights should be preju-
diced against the quality which
they assail, but it is strange that
brilliant first night audiences
should cheer these assaults So rap
turously.
In Manhattan" as in many
another play, the hero is presented
as an author. and. consequently. a
poor fish. Indeed, a motion-picture
star informed us that in discussing
the film version of a recent play
the director insisted upon changing
the profession of the hero, who had
been a writer in the original. NO"
he said. lin the picture he's got to
be virile."
Manhattan" tries to damn it's
literary hero utterly by making him
contributor to the Atlantic
Monthly. By this device IL seems
to convince the audience that he
must be dry as dust, and cannot
possibly know anything about life.
This seems to us a gross fallacy.
We would contend that the Atlantic
Monthly touches life much more
closely than the Saturday Evening
Post. II the authors of "Manhat-
tan" had been shrewdly intent upon
indicating that their hero actually
had no contact whatsoever with
life. they should have made him .
playwright.
But of course before going on il
is necessary to reach some UNDER
standing about the meaning of this
catchword life" which is flung
around so carelessly by dramatists
and novelists. We are forever
being told that certain people in
plays and books do not know it. or
have not seen it. or even have not
lived 1t. Generally no attempt is
made to define just what Is meant
by living your life"
II We may be allowed to specu-
late, We should say that person
may be said to be living his life il
ne manages to do most of the things
which he wants to do. If this is .
fair statement of the meaning Of
the phrase 1t must be evident that
intelligent people live far more
fully than duller-witted folk. They
are more likely to see through the
customs and superstitions which
have been raised up to block man
off from his desires.
Accordingly, il would seem to us
that a writer for the Atlantic
Monthly probably not only lives
more life than, let's say. boot
logger. but knows more about it too.
He Is less oppressed by law because
he can take it or let 1t alone. His
code of conduct must be more
elastic. Ideals can't bother him as
much. A bootleger has to live every
hour OF the day in such way AS
tn give the very best which Is
within his power. II he makes mis-
takes his customers may sicken ~
die. The author need not be So
careful. There is hardly anything
which can make an editor SICK
More fundamental than all this Is
the fact that freedom is not an in
stinct. One has to go through
definite process of thought to want
to die for it. Most revolutions are
intellectualized. Make out any 'list
of men of action and you will have
highbrows. It is only natural that
the greatest eagerness for DEEDS
should be found among those VINO
have had their fill of thinking.
Consider the politicians who take
pride in announcing that they are
plain. blunt men, and you can hard
lv fail to notice that they are moth
ing of the sort. They are all ver-
bose. Extravaganza is character
istic Of people who don't know the
value of words. AS matter OF
fact, an automatically plain, blunt
man would not bother to announce
that fact. Saying nothing would be
much palmer and blunter.
Even the assumption that intel
lectuals are unduly bookish gen.
rerally falls nat. Nobody can have
a proper appreciation of the made
quacy of books as a substitute for
life until he has read a lot Of them,
The printed word Is a god only to
the illiterate.
But the most unconvincing factor
in all the plays in which the scholar
is recalled to life and joy is the
means for reformation suggested by
the playwrights. In Manhattan
the familiar theory is presented that
the salvation of the intellectual lies
in his taking up with some soubret-
tish person who will brighten .his
life with slang and bad manners.
Every time she shakes hands with
the butler or refers to a picture as
q pitcher" the icicles of isolation
In his heart are supposed to melt.
In plays the youngish writing man
invariably marries his Peg. or what
ever her name might be. and the
curtain comes down. The implica-
tion IL that they live happily ever
after. We don't believe q word Of
IT. Somebody ought to write q
comedy of what happened to Gin
derella and the Prince after mar
riase. 1t is our notion that the
divorce came At the end of a year
and half and that one. of the ugly
sisters was named as correspondent.
After all. what did the Prince
know about Cinderella? Nothing
but the fact that she was person.
able, danced well and had an un-
usually small foot. This seems to
US insufficient to insure a lifetime
NJ - n -