IF PLATO WENT TO THE MOVIES

New Zealand Listener, Volume 10, Issue 256, 19 May 1944, Page 16

IF PLATO WENT TO THE MOVIES

SUPPOSE the worst thing (or perhaps the best) about being sick when you're a film critic is that you can’t see any films to criticise, A literary critic can still read books, a music critic can still listen to the radio or the gramophone; but a film-reviewer without a theatre seat under him and a talkie screen in front of him is almost no use to anyone. However, although they can stop you séeing films, they can’t stop you thinking about them. And what I’ve been thinking about is this: If Plato ‘were alive to-day and could have some experience of the cinenta, what view pag he be likely to take of it? What suggested the idea to me was @ passage in R. H. S. Crossman’s Plato To-day, which I ay just been Teading in bed. The passage which suggested to me Plato’s relation to the cinema was that page in Crossman’s book in which he is describing the technique which Plato advocated for controlling the "civilians" in his ideal republic-that is, the great

mass of the people, as distinct from ‘the other two classes of "administrators" and "philosopher-kings." In Plato’s view, the common man, being incapable of higher thought, ‘must be fed on political and superstitious myths which appeal to his emotions and stimulate him to obey the law. These Plato calls "noble lies," by which, of course, he means propagarida. His "civilian" was to receive the same education as that prepared for the children of the ruling classes; but he was not to advance beyond that stage, since politically he would always be a child. And just as children are told improving or cautionary tales to stop them sucking their fingers, or biting their nails, or playing the wag, so Plato’s "civilian" was to be served up with a succession of "noble lies" which would take his mind off the truth, keep him contented with the status. quo, and prevent him from asserting his right to independence and self-government. ‘ ys * * * Now perhaps you may be starting to see what all this has to do with the cinema-or am I carrying the idea

too far in suggesting that, if Plato were to visit a British or American movie theatre (always presuming that such a thorough-going Fascist were allowed in), he would find much therein to give him satisfaction? Let us concoct some pseudo-Platonic dialogue round the situation: WE;-It has come to our knowledge that you have in the past few weeks been a regular visitor to several of our cinema theatres, Would you favour us with your impressions of an invention unknown in your day but which has become a most important factor in ours? PLATO:-As you say, the‘ scientific phenomenon of the cinema was unknown to my time, but the social principle upon which it operates was closely studied and highly regarded by those whose duty it was to ensure the well-being and contentment of the common people, If you have read my book The Republic, you will know I am referring to the so-called "noble lie," of which several of the films that I have seen recently appear to me to be worthy, examples; though, without desiring to hurt your feelings, I must confess that I have, during my visits to several European countries in recent years, seen other instances where this technique has been brought down to a much finer art. (continued on next page)

(continued from previous page) WE:-yYou mean, nearly all the films you have seen have struck you as being designed for the primary purpose of propaganda? Or, if you understand the phrase, as dope for the masses? PLATO:-tThat appeals to me as being a particularly apt and useful expression. Let us therefore use it, though I can well understand that it would not be popular among those who produce the films nor among those of the masses who consume them. For at all times the art of propaganda has depended on the extent to which it conceals its purpose. WE:-But many of our most intelligent and highly-educated citizens support the movies. Not every film that is made, of course, or any of them uncritically; but such persons do place the films on a much higher plane than you seem prepared to. PLATO:-Yes, but I am reminded that during my present visit I have encountered several strange sophistries and abnormal cults which thrive in this country: and I believe that you will not be able to deny that it is the "educated" among your citizens who chiefly support them with their money and devotion. Such foolishness is in itself unimportant, but it should be a warning to you that human nature is tougher and less manageable than people like you believe. Man demands not truth but wonders and miracles, and will, if he is given the opportunity, enslave himself to arly superstition rather than accept the commands of knowledge. For truth is seldom comforting and reality has rarely the winning aspect with which deception can deck itself out. That is almost certainly the explanation for the popularity of so many inferior motion pictures, and for the almost cer‘tain unpopularity of those which exhibit some intelligence or some break with convention in their making. It is for this reason also that you should now take warning if you are really concerned for the happiness and virtue of your countrymen, For they have been infected with false standards and made to believe that knowledge is easy to come by and open to everyone who has read a book or heard a lecture or seen a few films. And so your democracy, which you praise as the home of freedom and the protector of the conscience of the individual, is in reality not far removed from the dictatorships you abhor. For even your film magnates and your newspaper kings, your makers of cosmetics and salves, your political bosses and your orators and publicists, are not free to do what they. please: they, too, are enslaved since, to keep their circulations up and their tills full, they must dance attendance on a stupid public, ministering to its every whim and considering only what new sensation they can provide to titillate its jaded palate. The free spirit brought up in such trickery and deceit will have only one refuge. He will not believe one word that is told him by the politician ‘or the publicist or the advertiser or anyone else, but keep himself to himself until truth can gain control and rule throighout the world. [Note: We realised later that in the preceding paragraph Plato had been quoting almost verbatim from the dialogue on British Education, which occurs in R. H. S. Crossman’s book. Presumably he thought it so relevant as to be worth repeating. |] (continued on next page)

| (continued from previous page) WE:-You are indeed harsh in your oe on our motion pictures, but perhaps deservedly so on the majority of them, But have you seen none which appealed to you as having been constructed with some respect for truth as well as with some appreciation of art and good: taste? PLATO:-Indeed, I have seen several such, two of them but recently by a man named Orson Welles. They were obviously made by somebody with an adult mind for the purpose of stimulating other adult minds. Yet I could | not help noticing with some satisfaction, since it proved my case, that many members of the audience became increasingly restive during these films, laughing most inanely where no laughter was required, talking together, rustling bags of confectionery, and eventually rising from their seats and leaving the theatre long before the performance was at an end. It then became clear to me that your people have, over qa number of years, become so accustomed to seeing a conventional, glamorised, and artificial representation of life upon the screen that now they cannot recognise truth and reality on the rare occasions when they see it. Consider for a moment what real life would be like if what one saw in the cinema were a true representation of it. Almost the only sort of people consistently short of money would be the ambitious producers of musical shows! Few couples would hamper_their social activities with children, and yet the race would be in no apparent risk of dying out, in spite of the drain of constant homicide, whether from national or private causes. Most men would be great lovers, most women would be as dangerous as sirens; and yét in spite of this, nearly all their romances would end happily. Crime would be rampant and_ intriguingly varied, but crime would never pay; cheats would never prosper — except once, I recall, in a very advanced French film with an actor named Sacha Guitry; the wicked would always receive their due measure of punishment, and righteousness and virtue would never go unrewarded, That is the pattern of behaviour which audiences in your cinemas have come to regard as being "true to life." And now perhaps you will understand better why I have commended the motion picture as a worthy modern example of the "noble lie," which is designed to keep the common man in his place and destroy: any desire in him to rise above it. I do not think that the cinema has yet been put to its fullest use in this direction, but its possibilities are there. © WE:-Well, sir, we thank you for your opinions. We respect the sincerity of your intentions and admit that there is much in your outline of our attitude towards the cinema that is true, while at the same time, we abhor and reject the obviously Fascist nature of your outlook. You have shown us where the danger lies ‘in our great invention ofthe cinema-only you do not regard it as a danger but as an asset. What we now need is the spirit of your great _ master, Socrates. He would not be content to leave the situation as it is, but would attack it with patience, and humour, and unyielding courage.

G.

M.