Referring to all the good he believed motion pictures were capable of bringing about, inventor Thomas Edison (1847 - 1931) once remarked:
"It will wipe out narrow-minded prejudices which are founded on ignorance, it will create a feeling of sympathy and a desire to help the down-trodden people of the earth and it will give new ideals to be followed."
This 1910 article reported that although a great deal of film footage is devoted to simple dramas and comedies, Edison's vision was (slowly) coming to pass.