Offences by Australian Natives Caused by Seeing Moving Pictures

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 181, 21 October 1927, Page 1

Offences by Australian Natives Caused by Seeing Moving Pictures

IMITATING SIN AND CRIME By Cable. —Press Association. — Copyright. Received 9.30 a.m. SYDNEY, To-day. BEFORE the Films Commission, Mr. J. Beckett, a former Chief Inspector of Aborigines, pointed out the danger of allowing Australian aboriginals and natives in mandated territories to attend picture shows, where no discrimination was shown in the choice of programmes.

rjPHEY saw white men and women robbing, murdering, warring, lying, getting drunk and committing every sin and crime possible, without being punished. The films rarely showed punishment, though they inferred it, and the aboriginals wondered why they should not be allowed to do the same as the white man. He had closely studied the native mind and had come to the conclusion that films were detrimental to them. Pictures could be made a power for their uplift. The primitive mind was

not untrained, for it had been directed by tribal teaching and discipline to observe the operations of nature in its various phases. They were usually imitative, and their memories were retentive. He had known many instances where they mad committed offences that had been suggested by pictures. They should not be allowed to see any pictures except those selected for them, and these should be comics or informative films without any sex appeal.—A. and N.Z.