Outlines for The Influence of Films
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films are still a great medium of entertainment and instruction
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how films can teach us to increase (add to) our knowledge
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films can lead us to high aims
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different kinds of informative or educative films, scientific, historical, political and cultural
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films have harmful effects on us as well
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our filmmakers should produce films of high standards mostly about our social and national life
“When we watch films of a high order we find them very close to our desires, hopes, likings, and tastes, and so they leave deep impressions (effects) on us.”
Films or movies are great entertainment. They can, however, improve our habits and ideas as easily as they can spoil them. Films worth seeing teach us a lot about life. Their stories provide memorable lessons that we can learn to make our lives better. Successful films tell us how to behave well towards others. They can exemplify proper (suitable) ways of talking. They can make us understand how to meet others and discuss different matters.
Films can lead us to high aims. They can have stories of the people who made great sacrifices (suffered and even gave up their lives) for their noble ideals. We can also try to make effort like the actors in the films. Thus, films teach us how important struggle (determined effort) is for success. In this connection films on great people like Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Kamal Ataturk and the Quaid-e-Azam deserve special praise.
Informative or educative films are generally scientific, historical, political and cultural. Scientific films bring home to us new scientific inventions and discoveries. They inform us about new adventures of man in the fields of science, for example, space travel and atomic energy. These can be in our own language or in foreign languages.
Historical and political films inform us about the great empires like the Chinese and Roman. They describe the rule of one country over another and present independence movements pictorially. They may be about famous wars. Cultural films let us know about the religions, arts, literature and traditions of different societies. Films have a harmful influence on us in a number of ways. There are films about criminals. They present their crimes in attractive ways. Films with incidents and stories having negative effects upon character should be avoided.
These days a great many propaganda films are being produced. In such films, one country tries to make propaganda against other countries opposed to it. We should not be misguided by them. We should try to watch movies that do not misguide us against any society, country or culture.
We should try to watch films of a proper standard. We enjoy watching them as we also learn about life. Let our filmmakers decide to present the different sections of our society with their problems and possible solutions on the screen. They should use the art of the cinema for the improvement (betterment) of social and national life. Now every TV is a mini-cinema in the home with videocassettes of different films readily available that can be played on the VCR or CD player. The importance of the film industry, therefore, has increased manifold.
