The Way We Were [The Year 1960 4/4]

The Durham County Advertiser informs us that in the summer  of 1960 an outspoken and well known speaker from Jamaica, Mr Stuart Hall, was in Durham to address the National Association of Boys' Clubs. At the end of his speech the audience burst into tumultuous applause. It was clear that he had made a profound effect on the audience. Here now, fifty two years later, are some of the points made by him, as reported in the paper:

In the fourth forms of less intelligent streams at secondary modern schools there is a sort of glass screen between the teacher and the children. They take more notice of older boys of 18 than they do of their teachers.

The teenager looks upon the teachers as ''them,'' people who order him about, do not give him any feeling for what he has to do. Later on this reaction may be transferred to policemen, youth leaders, priests, and anybody in authority. But go and watch him on the dance floor, the concentration on the dance floor gives them some direct emotional relation between themselves and what they are doing.

The life they are seeking cannot be put into words. This is nothing new; the dreams of their parents were the stars of the screen: Rudolph Valentino stood for glamour; Charlie Chaplin the courage of the little man, and Greta Garbo the mystery of the beautiful woman. Few people had these things, but millions wanted to enjoy them.

Screen Mirror

We have learnt about romance, not from life, but through going to the cinema, or reading books like Treasure Island and Swiss Family Robinson.

Some people imagine there is a sharp distinction between so- called high-brow and cheap entertainment. But there is much that is healthy in low brow entertainment:Gracie Fields was never vulgar, but Liszt the composer of serious music was. Emma Fitzgerald, the blues singer, is poised and gracious, but some artists are less so.

The teenagers search for self- expression has been turned into a money-making business. People between the ages of 15 and 25 spend two-thirds of their incomes in the following ways:

£222m on clothing and footwear £ 120m on drink and tobacco £95m on sweets, soft drinks and snacks; £160m on records, magazines, films, etc.

The paper's reporter commented that a theme of Mr Hall's speech is that young people make mistakes because they are trying to find a deeper life. In sex-stimulation they are seeking love and affection, in being cynical they are trying to show that they are mature, in success they hope to find a substitute for real community life and being a worth-while human person.

Meanwhile the Press, TV, juke boxes, fashion experts, and advertisers cash in on their dreams because they at least provide them with feelings which enable them to face life.