The Lasting Picture Show

With that background in mind, this book focuses on “cinematic knowing” as an expression of ludenic experience, important as a major source of “play-learning” in a world which is increasingly “wired” to the various forms of moving pictures. It investigates how this way of seeing has expanded our visual acuity and experience, including not only hindsight and foresight, but also insight and indeed even “blindsight”. It discusses the acquired abilities inherent in our “cinematic understandability”, the extent and depth of knowing that is learned from our life-long experience of exposure to motion pictures, including forms other than “the movies”, such as TV programming, commercials, and documentaries. It proceeds on the assumption that the most influential of this universe of visual expression is the one with the most important background and cultural impact, the motion picture show. This ludenic center of popular fare involved the creation of a heterocosm, a body of popular knowledge that accumulates and promulgates values and interests in visually identifiable formats, becoming in the process a kind of cultural enthymeme enjoyed for its expressive ability to reach people, and proved to be resilient and flexible in adapting to and addressing new circumstances.