Life, 1922-08-31 · page 11 of 36
Life — August 31, 1922 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical piece critiques early cinema's influence on language and culture. The title essay argues that movie subtitles are reshaping everyday speech—people now use film clichés in casual conversation. The cartoon below illustrates this theme: a film director complains to a colleague that the leading actor performed poorly in a dramatic scene, but "he's learned since then that the star is the director's wife." This joke targets nepotism in the film industry—specifically how actors improve their performances when they discover personal relationships with authority figures matter more than talent. It's satirizing both the corruption of merit-based casting and the absurdity of actors prioritizing connections over craft.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
NOTHER ten years, now, and A these movie subtitles will revo- jutionize our language. We'll speak familiarly of the “searing breath of Fate” as though it were something we took every day at the barber's; and the youngest of us will brush himself off after falling down the last step, and remark: “But life is like that.” lake the commonest thing to have happen, say a divorce; and after the movies have shown us how for a de- cade. we'll find ourselves uncon- sciously clasping our recently severed helpmate back into our legally sep- arated arms, merely because a little golden-haired child happened to run across our path and skip down to a pool of water. We'll murmur to- gethe “And two Sad Hearts were reunited, and two Drooping Lips met again,” whether the golden-haired child is really any relation to us or not. It’s all the influence of the sub- titles: it affects even the commonest things. ... - LIFE The Wages of Cinema “Spring came again to the little valley—spring with its healing breath of sunshine,” suggested my wife just before the hot weather; and I admit the pair she held up were moth-eaten. “The passing year had brought a change to Aberdeen,” I agreed, and we boarded a car together. “All the cards are stacked against you,” I said as I paid the fare to the guard. I needed a transfer. “Life isn’t in playing good cards; it lies in playing a bad hand well,” he replied with a beautiful smile; and I knew he had seen the same motion picture that I had. “After all, life is like a woman; you never know what it’s going to do next,” I smiled back pleasantly; and it got him laughing so hard he couldn't answer me for minutes. “No—for my sake—for our sake I must keep my pledge,” I called to my wife, and we got off the car. “When Youth and Ambition walked hand-in-hand and all Life was several ahead,” she agreed, and led me into a new department store. “And now the shadows lifted, and the Lovers faced the dawn of a new day.” I pointed to a special sale of * men’s light-weights. “He will stick to you faithfully through thick or thin,” objected my wife; and I agreed with her, the size was small. “Army Planes in Trial Test at Moshulu, Wisconsin !” she suggested, handing me several pairs. “Night came to hide the deed from the eyes of man,” I said, giving them to the girl to be wrapped. She looked blank for a moment. “Can de sob-stuff,” I repeated, in- sistently. “It’s a double-cross. He's gonna be strung.” She gazed a moment more, then her face flashed understanding. “And you would pay me off—with money !” she screamed, and drew out her re- volver and shot-at me. I was de- lighted; that was just the way the picture had ended. C. HSE. “The leading man isn’t as good in this scene as he was in the love scene you shot yesterday.” “Oh, he’s learned since then that the star is the director's wife.” comicbooks.com