Life, 1914-12-24 · page 27 of 40
Life — December 24, 1914 — page 27: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**The Main Cartoon:** "Winter Sports in New York" depicts a colossal snowball on an urban rooftop, looming over the city below. This appears to be satirizing the scale and danger of winter weather in New York. **The Article "Who Wants Opinions?":** This is a satirical critique of a newly-launched periodical claiming to be a serious "journal of opinion" featuring distinguished contributors like Dr. Cook and Theodore Roosevelt. The author (E.S. Martin) mocks the pretension, arguing that: - America has no shortage of opinions already - Past opinions from celebrated figures now seem worthless - The journal will likely succeed through entertainment and hype rather than intellectual merit - It appeals to "fools" with time on their hands who flock to trendy cultural products - The author advises instead establishing a "cult" rather than relying on genuine thought **The Satire's Point:** The piece ridicules intellectual vanity and the American appetite for fashionable ideas over substance, suggesting that a journal of "opinion" is ultimately just commercial entertainment dressed in idealistic language.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
WINTER SPORTS attempts to follow it is going to be chased by the entire police of the world, Germany must give up her robber Rhine-baron ideal. She must learn to be an honest nation and help to keep the other nations honest and get in with them to form a confederation strong enough to keep in check all un- ruly and predatory’ ambitions. Then she need not be afraid of any bear coming out of the woods, or any sea- monster coming out of the sea, to de- stroy her. Both from her and for her the world must be made safe. E. S. Martin. IN NEW YORK Who Wants Opinions? NEW periodical has recently been started, with a great flourish of literary trumpets, with the. declared object of bringing a sufficient enlight~ enment to the affairs of the nation. * It is solemnly announted’ as a “ journat of opinion”, and has among its list of contributors the names of some of the most distinguished writers in this country and England. But why should we want any more opinions added to those already bave ? we Consider 1167 the vast crop of opinions that bloom with every rising and falls to seed with every setting sun. And can it be said that one opinion, no matter from. what well-reputed mind it may fall, is any better than any other? Who cares now for the opinions of Dr. Cook or Theodore Roosevelt—both of them excellent men in their time? “Many people,” declares our new friend, in its announcement, “ believe that if such a journal is to be popular, it must first of all be entertaining. Yet this is not necessarily so. There are a large number of fools in America who have time on their hands. They will flock to see anything, no matter how dull or nasty, if it be sufficiently heralded and advertised, and if it be lucky enough to have caught a certain reputation for being the “thing” to see—as, for instance, the lectures of Bergson or the sex-plays of Brieux. And so, if a journal can, by some fluke of fortune, acquire a reputation for being an “organ of thought” or an exponent of some sort of “ideal- ism” of which nobody knows the meaning, it may reap a rich reward. But is a journal of opinion “ appeal- ing” enough, as the book reviewers would say? We fear not. What our friend should do is first to establish a cult. Any good, reliable cult that is ready to sit up nights and is young and ambitious and reckless enough Then start your paper. will do. —— BI. AMONG THE MISSING comicbooks.com