One would hardly think that the film has reached and is being used
in some of the remotest corners of the globe, yet such is the case.
The advance made in this direction of the education of these savages
by means of the film has been a source of help to the missionaries.
These natives, quick-witted, are apt to learn far quicker from motion
pictures than from personal instruction. The effects are sometimes very
humorous, imitation is often indulged in, and bobbed hair and short
skirts have created such an impression that the fashion prevails as far
away as Jamaica. The black belle “bobs” her hair and even covers her
skin with a pearl powder overlaid with rouge and a peculiar dark red in
imitation of her Western sister.
She tucks in her print skirt, and if she is accustomed to going
barefooted during the week, on Sunday she will appear in vivid
silk stockings. She wears a hat woven by herself, with a twisted
impressionistic scarf such as the heroine in a screen play wears when
she sallies forth to meet her hero. It is contended that there is
already a marked improvement in the manners and customs, which schools
have not been able to bring about.
There is ample scope for pioneer work amongst these dusky brethren, and
the projector would go a long way towards attaining this end.