Educative Value of Cinemas
India is a developing country. We had been ruled by foreigners for three hundred successive years. They left us unskilled and poor. Our position is not like western countries. They are rich and can afford the money for their entertainment through various means. There are a number of good clubs, institutes, hotels, theatres and entertainment halls, where the people of the rich countries go and enjoy. They can easily afford to utilize their unoccupied time. On the contrary people in India are poor and cannot afford much to avail themselves of the facilities of clubs and luxury institutes. There is no doubt that there are numerous advantages of clubs and entertainment halls. The activities, which are performed and enjoyed there by the participants give sense of humour and also influence one’s character. One learns many things which are necessary for a civilized person. But for the people like Indians, where majority is poor, the only alternative is cinema which is the cheap and the best means of entertainment. Even the people of the middle class in our country cannot afford better entertainment. They also go to cinema halls for enjoying the movies.
The cinema occupies a very important place in modern life. There are a number of cinema halls in big cities, while small cities and towns have few numbers. It has been seen that a big crowd turns to see new movies with the aim of entertainment. Besides amusement, one finds a number of things which educate him from all the angles. The viewers watch the activities of the actors and actresses in the movies. The heroism shown by them deeply influence the people particularly the children and the youth. That is very helpful in developing the characteristic qualities of the viewers. The bad activities in the movies, which are undesirable in the society, carry a bad impression. The Censor Board should have the authority to delete such portions as contain violence, sex and burglary. The basic aim is to get entertainment and learn good things and not to pollute the human mind.
The success of heroes and heroines, their status, national image, importance in the commercial field and the honour, which they get in film industries as well as national and international level, really inspire the talented youth to follow and achieve. We see a number of competitions, in which the young boys and girls are tested for entry into film industry for making that profession as their career. Before undergoing such tests they develop themselves thoroughly to enable them to show their talent in a competitive manner. All the preparation of theirs itself helps for developing their physical standard and traits of personality. And their new face leads them to getting entry in film industry.
There are many good things which are shown in the movies, like historical stories, ideals of various religions, systems of faith and worship, courageous activities, cultural aspects of various communities which are quite educative. A man learns all about this from such type of movies. If we take the examples of many movies, which are based on the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, they educate us about the behaviour, duties, leadership qualities and sacrifice for social causes as well as the causes of their own kingdom. Their deeds are taken as a quotation even today. People still follow their foot-prints in an ideal manner. Even if they fought against a monarch it was entirely for protecting the values of their principles and religion. They never hesitated in finishing the devilish enemy to offer social justice to the society over which they were ruling. These all things are highly educative to humanize a man.
The cinema has a great educative value on historical and geo-graphical aspects. The films on historical subjects give us more clear and vivid knowledge of history. We get an opportunity to know all about the historical events, which in turn generates historicity in human mind in a positive form through the films. We do not know all about many past events which occurred within the country and outside. But the film makers put their efforts to collect all the data of events and show on a cinema screen. This is quite educative specially to a new generation. There is no doubt that the historic knowledge makes a man more mature and competent to act in all the spheres of life.
The time has changed. Science has made the world very small. During olden days the films were being made within the country. The film makers were hardly going to foreign countries. This was continued even upto early seventies. Consequent on induction of new technology, which has narrowed time consuming process, the filmmakers are now moving to various countries of the world to get good and new scenes and they are able to make films within a short time. They show many things and scenes of foreign countries in their new movies which attract the viewers. In certain cases we are emotionally excited by something happening on the screen unexpectedly, which we feel as our new experience and education. We know much about the people of other countries and their ways of life. We also know about their culture, art, religion and literature through such movies.
The cinema is an important means of publicity. Government uses it for placing its own programmes and achievements before the people to keep them updated. It is the cinema by which the people of the country know about our ancestors and their noble deeds. There are the films which show about the change of our culture and society in a chronological order. They are quite interesting and educative. We gain enough knowledge about various cultures and social set ups of our country through cinemas. It helps in generating the feeling of unity and sense of belonging. We know about the richness and prominence in Indian culture through such movies. Cinemas are very important means of social reform. In many films, certain social evils like untouchability, child marriage, child labour, purdah system, dowry, sexual activities and so on are shown in an unfavorable light. This has a positive impact upon the people, which motivates them to fight against these evils.
The cinema has greater number of advantages than disadvantages. Most of the cinemas are quite educative. The film makers can play greater role to bring more improvement for making the cinema more educative and helpful to the people.
