Between the Cracks of History: Essays on Teaching and Illustrating Folklore Page: 18

                                
Harris

of a single viewer and at the same time exists independently in
the minds of other viewers.
In addition, could the sitting with many other people in a
darkened theater, could the cinema experience be similar to a
folk celebration? If, for instance, Lubbock forms a community,
where else do the diverse elements (as they relate to ethnicity,
education, social and economic status, religion) of the city come
together in one location for the sharing of one experience?
But more than how folklore and cinema are alike and more
than how they are different, I am interested here in functional
and dynamic relationships. These are the questions I would like
to ask about the two subjects: 1. What relationships do exist
between them? 2. What have those relationships been in the
past? and 3. Can we speculate as to what those relationships
will be like in the future?
I must begin with a personal note. These are two subjects I
have loved for many years. The 1996 Easter conference was my
twenty-third consecutive year to meet with the Texas Folklore
Society, and cinema has been an important part of my life since
I was a kid growing up in Dallas in the 1950s. I do not think I
would be able to write about any part of all my personal experi-
ences without acknowledging some impact from my folklore stud-
ies and cinema. I include such subjects as religion and
philosophy, career and hobbies, family and friendships, and on
and on. Folklore and cinema's impacts have been that strong.
And I believe I am not unique in this influence that cinema has
had; I believe I am typical of millions of Americans and other
peoples who watch movies regularly and have for most of their
lives.
Most everyone today will admit that the potential for impact
from cinema is great. Witness the debate in conservative America
over the influence of media violence on young people. Many folks

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