Letters to the Editor

Letters posted here are associated with the following article:
Scott Bateman: Actual audio from the 1946 film "Despotism"
The test of despotic power is that it can disregard the will of the people. It rules without the consent of the governed.
[2007-11-14]
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  • Question

    I guess I'm not that familiar with Scott Bateman's work, but what is hanging out of everyone's mouth?

    --Anonymous
    Wednesday, November 14, 2007 09:15 AM

  • Those would be cigarettes...

    I guess because everybody smoked back in 1946?

    Also, for the record, not a trope in Scott Bateman's work. Yet.

    -- aptnro
    [Read aptnro's other letters]
    Wednesday, November 14, 2007 10:34 AM

  • Yes, cigarettes.

    Because everybody smoked on camera back in the late '40s and early '50s.

    -- scottbateman
    [Read scottbateman's other letters]
    Wednesday, November 14, 2007 01:52 PM

  • And With Good Reason, Too

    They smoked for the same reason that an "informational picture" like "Despotism" would be produced for the general public: In 1946 they had just fought a nightmarish war to get rid of it.

    -- Mister Marker
    [Read Mister Marker's other letters]
    Wednesday, November 14, 2007 03:51 PM

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