Horrors Appeal To Small Boys

New Zealand Listener, Volume 1, Issue 24, 8 December 1939, Page 49

Horrors Appeal To Small Boys

opinion in the Press that radio "thrillers" have a bad effect on children, it is interesting to note the comments of Dr.. Martin, Director of the Australian Institute of Psychology, on the remarks made by Mr. Justice Brennan of Queensland recently on the subject: "As the average small boy sups on horrors there is little use in banning thrillers from the air," said Dr. Martin. "T lived on Deadwood Dicks when I was a boy, and I don’t think bloodthirsty stories or radio serials do the slightest harm to the average healthy youngster. "Of course, as in the Queensland murder case, they might have a detrimental effect on an odd half-witted or psychopathic listener. "The average youngster, however, likes dreadful happenings; he is passing through a stage of healthy barbarism, and hasn’t yet acquired adult values. "We must not make the mistake of thinking he is callous because a murder or two means little to him. Adult values come later. "After all,’ Dr. Martin explained, "some of the best fairy tales are very bloodthirsty. Hansel and Gretel pushed the witch into the oven; villains generally get chopped up into little pieces or are hung on the tallest trees, and the hero slays someone on every page. The fate of the villain fits in with the child’s sense of justice, but I’m sure there is no strong visual realisation of this. For instance, when Disney was filming ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, he found it necessary to let the old witch off more lightly than in the fairy tale, where she is made to dance in red hot boots." I: view of the recent expressions of