Marshall McLuhan wrote in 1967 that "The medium is the message," meaning, according to McLuhan, "The new electronic interdependence recreates the world in the image of a global village."
If that is true, then we need to take a very serious look at the images we create and view.
That is why the Source was happy to jump on the opportunity to be a sponsor of the first Virgin Islands Children's Film Festival.
The concept of bringing non-violent, highly aesthetic, message-oriented films to the children and parents of the Virgin Islands is something that has strong appeal. The films to be shown this weekend – Saturday at the Westin Resort on St. John and Sunday at the Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort on St. Thomas – are truly the "best of…" in children's film.
We hope that, through seeing these films, children and parents will begin to demand better programming in our theaters, on our television stations, at our video stores and even in our schools.
Violence and sensationalism do sell tickets, unfortunately. Perhaps the opportunity to view a different kind of film, to see images and hear stories that also bear important messages, will begin to change the way we think about what we allow our children to view.
If nothing else, we can see that there are options.
Seeing the festival offerings also may give the children a hunger for something more meaningful than the mindless drivel they are constantly fed in the name of entertainment.
We hope the whole community will turn out to see these films and support the notion that the images we view should be informative, positive and meaningful, as well as entertaining.
The children of these islands deserve to have the very best. And, thanks to the Reichhold Center for the Arts, Karrl Foster and Ranny Levy of the Coalition for Quality Children's Media / Kids First!, for one weekend they will have the very best of children's film available.