MOVING PICTURES.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 97, 24 April 1912, Page 7

MOVING PICTURES.

10 TBS EDITOR. Sir, — I have read witk some interest and not a. little amusement the attack made by Mr. G. Flux, headmaster of Wellington South School, on picture shows, which, ho painfully observes, are attended by "many children as frequently as three times per week." The genesis of his complaint is that these same pictures "impress the eye 1 for a moment, the mind scarcely at all, except to befog it." I will not waste my time or your space in replying to this latter observation. Tlio remarks made by the headmaster of the Island Bay School, who hopes to have a kineinatograph permanently installed in his institution, are a sufficiently crushing answer to that. I realise that Mr. Flux is obviously a very sincere, and, I have not the slightest doubt, a very cultured gentleman who has tho welfare of the youngsters under his control at heart ; but I venture to suggest that he has built his condemnation on a foundation of sand, and that his arguments won't stand minute analysis for thirty seconds. Mr. Flux's opinion that a picture makes no "permanent impression" is purely his opinion. Will he suggest for instance that a picture, such as "The Making of the Panama Canal," made no impression on those who saw it? Will he deny that it was csiculated to teach a boy or a girl more about the progress of thai stupendous enterprise than all thq literature on tho subject he has stored in his library? WUl> ho suggest that it was not calculated to teuch a boy or a girl more about the geography of Central America than the crude skeletonised text books supplied to the pupils oi our national schools? What of the hundreds of industrial pictures we, in common with other moving picture proprietors, have shown from time to time? What of the bcenio views that are screened in every programme? Do they make no impression on tho malleable minds of tho young? Must a "dramatic film," because it is_ simply pictorial drama, bo baneful in its influence? Does Mr. Flux speak from "lengthy personal knowledge," as h$ asserts, or is he speaking merely on hearsay evidence? Is he a regular attendant at picture shows? I venture to assert he is not. If he wero he would not be so ready to launch out into the wholesale condemnation that he indulged in last evening. I have no hesitation in saying that if the executive of the Headmasters' Association are sufficiently interested in the subject undor review to attend any performance at our theatre, or other picture house, on any day and at any time they see fit, they will find plenty to applaud and nothing to condemn. They may even be disposed to laugh at an innocent "comic" — the kind of picture the youngsters delight to see. Picture shows, like other things, are governed by publio sentiment, and nobody who keeps bis eyes open can possibly misjudge what the public verdict is. Clean, wholesome, amusing, instructive^ and educative, the picture snow has come to stay. It makes little demand on the family exchequer — admission charges being fixed so low. Indeed the- best authorities hold that the moving picture, as an educative factor, is only in its infancy. Perhaps, in thp- evolutionary process of future development of pictures, even Mr. Flux may be converted) — I am, etc, CHAS. MACMAHON. (MacMahon and Donnelly.) USE AND ABUSE. TO THE EDITOB. Sir, — I read the report in last night'B Post of the apparent divergent views held by two schoolmasters (Mes3is. Flux and Stuckey) on the kinematograph with a great deal of interest, but when one studies the subject closely, both gentlemen are right. Mr. Flux spoke against the quality of the pictures, and Mr. Stuckey mentioned that the kinematograph used for educational purposes would be of immense advantage to tho teachers. I beliere the majority will agree with both gentlemen, but it is the old story of use and abuse. _ Mr. Flux \b quite right in calling attention to the question of the influence of pictures on the minds of the children, and while I am not narrow-minded and have no desire to interfere with private enterprise, I think it is time that eomefhing was done to sort out some of the sordid stuff that is thrown upon tho screen. Some few weeks ago I was in New Plymouth, and at night a number of gentlemen staying -at the same hotel went to the pictures. Out of the programme, two items were comical at which all could laugh, two were scenic, splendid views and educational to a degree, but the balance of the items were of the sordid type, and all around expressions of disgust could be heard. Take this one: A young man falls in love with a girl, father objects; lovers oiope, get married, but as the girl is under age they havo onlj beeu married a da.y or two when the father backed by the "law of the land" takes his girl home. Ten seconds has not elapsed from the time the girl goes home till she m shown on th'e screen with a ohild in her arnii. These are tho barest facts, and put iv as nice language as I can command, but they do not adequately convey the full and hidden meaning of the picture. As I liavo said I am no prude, but he would be a bold man who would say that such a picture was elevating to anyone, and all must agree that 6uch pictures have a. baneful influence on the minds of all aiid particularly the younger members of tho audience. — I am, etc., H. G. HILL.

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