Judge — May 18, 1918 — page 12: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This satirical cartoon by C.W. Kahles critiques early cinema's moral impact. The title is ironic—the sequential panels show a man being progressively corrupted by movie-watching, not refined. The narrative depicts: a gentleman viewing films, then gradually adopting increasingly violent and criminal behaviors mimicked from screen—fighting, stealing, vandalism, and eventually explosive destruction. A final panel shows official disapproval via "Passed by the National Board of Tommyrot," mocking film censorship boards as ineffectual. The satire targets two concerns: cinema's perceived influence on viewers' behavior and the inadequacy of early film rating systems. The cartoon reflects 1910s-1920s anxieties about movies corrupting audiences, particularly young people, despite claims of moral oversight.