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One of the Fox network's earliest hits, this show focuses on criminal cases in which the perpetrators are still at large. The program uses actors to recreate the crime and then posts pictures of the wanted suspect on the screen urging anyone who has seen that person to call. The show, hosted by John Walsh whose son Adam was kidnaped and murdered in the 1980s, has an extraordinary success rate at capturing wanted criminals.
While the program has noble goals and can point to many successes, it uses very graphic and disturbing images to portray the scenes of violence. Camera angles, close-ups, special effects and other cinematic techniques are all used to emphasize the violence of the crime and to disturb the audience. These images shock the audience and do not assist or move the story. Music, in particular, is used to accentuate the sense of unease and dread. In many instances the use of violence crosses the line and is far more graphic than the scene or the premise of the show requires. Frequently, under the rationale of demonstrating how cruel and senseless the crimes are, the show resorts to extremely detailed and unsettling images. On 1/14/95, there was a re- enactment of a shooting in which a victim was pushed up against a wall by a gang member and shot in the head. The actual shooting occurs off-screen (we hear it), but the scene cuts back to the victim as he falls, leaving blood splattered all over the wall. The gang member then turns to shoot at the victim's fleeing friends, but the camera ultimately returns to the victim's fallen body laying in an oozing pool of blood. This is a re-creation, not a real video of the shooting. Someone had to decide there should be blood everywhere and it serves only to disturb the viewer.
On 9/17/94, there was a story of a man who stabbed his girlfriend repeatedly. In the scenes before the stabbing, he is shown in the kitchen staring at the knife that will later be used in the assault. The camera shot emphasizes the shiny and sharp nature of the knife. This is done in a very "creepy" and sinister fashion to create a strong sense of foreboding. The stabbing itself its overly long and very graphic.
One of the unique problems with America's Most Wanted is that some graphic scenes are repeated several times in the show. They are used as hooks or promotions to entice the viewer to watch the entire show. There are countless examples where a graphic or disturbing scene is repeated. One program (10/29/94) was geared especially to children. It contained warnings to children about the dangers of Halloween which followed the show two days later. The show, however, was filled with inappropriate images for children (discussed later in the report). Another episode on 11/2/95 detailed a murder during a bank robbery and a brutal rape of a woman at home alone. The rape scene showed the intruder tricking his way into the woman's apartment and very graphically illustrated the crime. A final segment was a highly clinical piece, with no pictures, on chemical castration. The segment examined whether castration was an effective way of dealing with repeat violent sex offenders. Only the third segment received an advisory. There were no warnings about the senseless murder or the horrifying rape, only the clinical chemical castration story.
America's Most Wanted occasionally raises concerns about the use of re-creations. The nature of the program affords an opportunity to examine very violent crimes. Its goal of catching criminals at large gives the show a measure of latitude in recreating crime. Some of the time, however, the extremely disturbing use of graphic images and music crosses the line of reasonable context and creates excessively violent images. This is a show that could benefit from an increased use of advisories. It raised concerns 11 out of 36 examinations.
Sometimes referred to as "Star Trek underwater," this is a science-fiction, fantasy show. Like Lois and Clark, this show seems to take a meaner turn after its first season. Last year SeaQuest began as a story of peaceful explorers charting and investigating unexplored ocean regions, emphasizing the science-fiction, futuristic nature of the show. This season it frequently featured violent action segments. Imaginative and scientific themes have been replaced by more action filled and violent ones.
SeaQuest is basically a science-fiction cop show. The role of the protagonists is to use violence when needed to defend themselves and others. The nature of the show and its use of violence tend to change from week to week. Sometimes the style is consistent with the science-fiction genre and other times it is dependent on themes of violence not typical for the science-fiction genre.
The action in the more violent episodes tends to take the form of a constant struggle between good and evil much like Star Trek. But a lot of it is violent confrontation. Violence is used much more extensively than is necessary. The 12/11/94 episode was filled with dark, unrelenting and graphic violence. Although this is a program designed to attract young viewers, it contains images far too disturbing for children. The final scene features a mean-spirited and prolonged fight. This is yet another show that features violent and disturbing images in the early prime time hours of Sunday.
Whether coincidentally or by design, the violence was more disturbing later in the season. The most problematic episode of SeaQuest was the final one (5/21/95). It not only contained many violent scenes, but the majority of them were very troublesome, especially for children. It was reminiscent of a blockbuster, action-adventure film: wall-to-wall confrontation and violence. Following extended scenes of laser gun battles in which many people are shot, virtually the entire cast is involved in a huge explosion and only two characters appear to survive. The episode was clearly aimed at maintaining a high level of excitement which will encourage viewers to tune in next season. This episode illustrates that not only is the show uncritical in its use of violence, but in fact uses violence to carry the show.
During the course of the season, violence became increasingly integral to the theme of the show. Much of the violence, particularly during sweeps periods, seemed to be violence for the sake of violence. SeaQuest raised violence issues five out of 21 times.
Using re-creations to illustrate its cases, Unsolved Mysteries is a lot like America's Most Wanted. Like other re-creation shows, the same scene of violence is often featured three or more times within the same episode. On 12/16/94 the same scene of a truck ramming a motorcyclist was used at the beginning of the show (preview), just before a commercial and then in the actual scene itself. Clearly, these are the scenes the producers think will best keep the viewers tuned in by grabbing their attention. Most of the re-creations on the show do not raise contextual concerns about violence. But when Unsolved Mysteries does contain scenes of violence, those scenes are used as consistently and conspicuously as possible. A discussion of the use of violent scenes repeatedly can be found in the Promotions section of the report. Of the 13 times the show was monitored it was determined to have violence issues three times.
The Watcher is another anthology program in a similar vein as the old Alfred Hitchcock Presents and the current Tales from the Crypt. The program's only recurring character is "the Watcher," played by rap star Sir Mix-A-Lot, an all-seeing purveyor of moralistic messages who is able to view all the goings-on of Las Vegas via security monitors throughout the city. Mix-A-Lot serves as a host and commentator for the several tales of depravity and human weakness that he presents in each episode, which typically includes such vices as murder, drug abuse and other sordid affairs.
There is violence in every episode of The Watcher and it is often grisly and gruesome. The transgressors, who are always condemned by the Watcher, are often duly punished in a horrible fashion. The show has a very dark feel to it as we gain an intimate perspective into the sordid aspects of human nature.
Despite the heavy consequences incurred by characters in every episode, the grim undertone, sometimes graphic violence, chronically violent themes and high likelihood of a young audience due to the popularity of the show's host, all combine to raise occasional concerns about the violence featured in The Watcher. This show was monitored 10 times and it raised concerns on three occasions.
This is another reality show using re-creations of emergency situations in which 911 is called, thereby saving a life. Like America's Most Wanted, Rescue 911 claims responsibility for the saving of many lives. We applaud it for this public service function.
In a few instances, however, in recreating a scene, extremely unnecessary and graphic images of accidents are depicted. The 2/28/95 episode features graphic and gruesome footage of a little boy falling into a moving lawn mower. The graphicness is far more explicit than the scene warranted. The same issue arose on the 1/31/95 episode when two hikers fell into a canyon. Like other reality shows, the viewer sees the same scenes of violence several times in the same show. Rescue 911 was looked at 18 times and was considered to have issues of violence on three occasions.
Earth2 is a serial, science-fiction drama that airs on NBC Sundays at 7:00. Although this places the program in a designated children's time slot, it would be a mistake to classify this as a show for kids. Many of the plot lines which span several episodes and the issues they address are overly sophisticated and too dry to sustain the interest of many children. What may entice some children viewers are occasional uses of very graphic and intense scenes of violence.
The show's premise is a group of futuristic pioneers investigating whether the planet on which they have crashed landed 22 light years from Earth will serve as a suitable habitat. The colonists encounter many threats as they traverse the continent in search of a land mass they call New Pacifica. These dilemmas range from dealing with hostile environmental conditions to conflicts with other inhabitants of the planet, one of whom is a human convict exiled to the planet.
The show typically contains some violence but it seldom raises contextual issues of concern. The show's protagonists are a peaceful group on the whole who are, however, capable of violence. They do attempt to refrain from acts of violence when possible. The violence used by the colonists is always in an effort to save or protect one another and they are never the initiators. The violence shown is intense and has consequences. It is usually dealt with in a responsible and non-glorified manner. The issue of concern with Earth2 is that many of the story lines require violence and are too intense for the Sunday 7:00 time period. Graphic images of decaying flesh, people being pulled into the ground screaming and a man being choked to death by hostile aliens are images that cause concern in Earth2. There is also a tendency to prolong the scenes in an effort to heighten the intensity and drama. This is yet another problem show in the early hours of Sunday evening. Of the 22 times Earth2 was examined, it brought forth issues of concern six times.
This is an animated satire of American life. The problem in regard to violence is that this is a program very clearly geared to children. It airs on Sundays at 8:00 (many times during the 1994- 95 season, reruns aired during the 7:00 hour). Everything about the show--the animation, the voices, the character Bart who talks back to his parents--appeals to kids and kids respond by watching in huge numbers. The contextual problem is that, in some instances, the show uses extraordinarily graphic violence to make a point of satire that is completely over the heads of children. The satire works for adults, but the uncomprehending children are left simply with very graphic scenes of violence.
The best example of this is the cartoon mouse and cat, Itchy and Scratchy. They are characters in the most popular cartoon on Krusty the Klown's after-school cartoon show. Based on Tom and Jerry, Itchy and Scratchy are a spoof of the ultra-violent cartoons with which many kids grew up. They take the extreme violence many people saw as children and raise it to a new and ridiculous level. Within this context, adults can appreciate the satire. Children only see Itchy and Scratchy as extremely violent cartoons that Bart, Lisa and even Homer love. Several seasons ago, Marge (the mother) registered her dismay at these violent cartoons and, in a satire of Terry Rakolta, wrote to advertisers protesting their sponsorship of such violent programming. The sponsors listened and the cartoons disappeared, but Marge realized that she had gone too far and had become a censor, which was never her intent. In later seasons, Itchy and Scratchy make a movie which is filled with nothing but violence. This season the cartoon mouse and cat opened a theme park, Itchy and Scratchy Land, "The Violentest Place on Earth." As an adult satire this probably works. For children, it may be nothing more than ultra-graphic images of violence.
The first episode of the season (9/4/94) featured an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon in which Scratchy was walled up by Itchy and released as a very old cat 3,000 years later by Itchy's descendants. He is well treated, groomed and fed by the mice. Although puzzled why his traditional foes would treat him so well, after 3,000 years behind a wall, he is happy. Only later does he realize their real intent. They put him in an arena as in the days of the Roman gladiators with an audience of mice. Out of nowhere a large sword-like blade flies through the air directly at him and he is sliced into many pieces. Viewers first see his internal organs and rivers of blood and then Bart and Lisa laughing at the gruesome cartoon. The satirical intent is clear, but that intent is lost on a large part of the audience. In any context, the violence is excessive and crosses the line as to what is acceptable for children.
Another example occurred on 11/13/94. The episode opens with what viewers later learn is a scene from the film "McBain" being watched by Homer, Bart and Lisa. McBain is an action- adventure character based on and sounding like Arnold Schwarzenegger. McBain pops out of an ice statue at a dinner honoring organized crime kingpins. The criminals are unveiling their newest product "Swank," more addictive than marijuana. McBain shoots and kills all but one of the bad guys. The shootings are extremely graphic. We see bullet holes and blood liberally pours from their bodies. McBain stands in the center of the table in a pool of blood, dead bodies and smoke everywhere. It is an extremely effective satire of 1990's action films. But to kids in the audience, it is merely graphic violence.
The Simpsons works as an adult satire and if it were programmed for adults and had mainly adults in its audience, it would raise few concerns. There is no way to ignore or not take seriously these images which are some of the most violent on television. The only thing that mitigates them is the satirical premise, which is lost on the children who comprise a large part of the audience. Of the 28 times The Simpsons was monitored, the show raised such concerns nine times.
This show raises many of the same issues as Walker, Texas Ranger although not as often. Action is built into the basic premise of the show. Each episode features a number of violent scenes, sometimes as many as 14. Usually two or three of these violent scenes are prolonged and much more violent than the context of the story requires.
Rarely are any of the individual scenes highly graphic. It is the sheer volume on some occasions that raises the question of whether the plot merely serves as a vehicle to connect scenes of violence. The Marshall was monitored 13 times and raised violence issues three times.
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