Rescuing Civilization Through Motion Pictures

Reformers and Spectators: The Film Education Movement in the Thirties

“…The Studies provided a theory of spectatorial response and suggested new ways in which such responses might be controlled. 31 The Payne Fund Studies and the Model of Spectatorship Fund Studies thus not only served to discredit the industry, but also, for reformers and educators themselves, posed the problem of how to curtail children's psychic investment in the cinema. Werrett Wallace Charters's Motion Pictures and Youth, a summary of the Payne Fund project, also highlights the importance of psychological modes of explanation of spectatorship.…”