Life of Ahmad — Page 3
as THE MIGHTY HOUR 3 concerned chiefly with nothing more elevating than the conflicts of rival football teams, the possible issue of a cricket match; the result of a boxing contest, the latest racing tips, or the rise of some new star in the tennis, theatre, or cinema heavens. . . This gazing and gambling upon the fierce contests of highly-paid professionals, this wild orgy of pleasure seeking that seems to have captured our modern world, is ominously reminiscent of the scenes connected with the gladiatorial combats in the Roman Coliseum. And it should not be forgotten that the decay of the Roman Empire began when the people, ignoring the stern times in which they were living, cried to the Emperor: "Give us bread and circuses. " Civilization might well ask itself today if it is not witnessing a repetition of history. ' An American writer says: 'There are multitudes of people in the United States who see moving pictures every day: hundreds of thousands of working girls and school children who see moving pictures every noon and night. There are literally millions of children in our great centers who know nothing of love, work, home life, business, politics, nature, or anything else save what the movies have to tell them.