Educative Value of Films
or
Education and Films
There are many ways of educating. One is through sight. Education through sight means whatever is to be taught is put before your eyes. It is called visual education. This way of educating is very useful. One learns very quickly through it.
Film is a form of visual education. We get all sorts of information and enlightenment. Film is a practical teacher. Education through films is very interesting. It is very easily understandable too. We learn through it in some hours what can be learnt otherwise in many years after labour and expenses. Mountains, rivers, jungles, battlefield scenes, a huge mill working, a mighty dam and such hundreds of things are shown in films. We see big cities of the world. We learn custom and manners of different peoples. We come to know their ways of living. All this broadens our outlook Our minds are enriched.
Film depicts social evils and arouses public opinions against them. Evils of dowry system, untouchability, caste rigidity, communalism, etc, are brought to our minds. We become conscious of our duty to end black-marketing and corruption by seeing their bad effects on society in a film.
Utility of films as a means of education is very great in India. The majority of our countrymen is illiterate. They cannot benefit themselves by reading. They can get knowledge and information through films. They can learn a lot. This is not possible otherwise for them.
In our country, however the box office value of a picture something given greater weight than its educative value. The lure of money induces both producers and exhibitors to say good bye to art, to sacrifice moral and social health and forget the canons of decency and is widespread. A tendency to imitate blindly the glamourous American pictures and to cater to audience things completely exotic is widespread. This tendency cannot but be prejudicial to the larger interests of our society and nation.
The meet the requirement of people of different ages and stages of life, there should be a classification of pictures for children, pictures for students, pictures for middle aged, pictures for the old, pictures for the agriculturists, and pictures for factory workers. To the pictures, certified fit for exhibition before adults only, children and students of tender age must not be admitted.
In free India, the cinema has an important role to play by spreading knowledge and instruction and by providing innocent amusements for the weary and heavily laden. The Indian film industry which was once backward, among other things in artistic and technical excellence, has made remarkable progress in recent years. If attention is given the Indian films can help a long way in educating the masses of this country in a rightful direction.
