Abstract
ABSTRACT This article interprets the silent-era Photoplay column “Why-Do-They-Do-It?” as a ludic form of participation akin to the film press’s contests and puzzles. Publishing fan-submitted letters on movie bloopers, “Why-Do-They-Do-It?” was contextualized as a medium of feedback between the viewer and the techno-cultural apparatus of the cinema. The column facilitated a disciplining of the spectatorial gaze. As the 1920s dawned and Photoplay’s readership began to skew toward young women, this critical gaze was increasingly transferred from the films toward the self, as the column was often set adjacent to advertisements for beauty and hygiene products.
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