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Television movies are a format the networks control from their inception. They can decide whether or not to make the movie, they have script approval and they can include or remove offensive or gratuitous scenes. Theatrical film is a different medium with different types of content and is less accessible to young children and thus has a greater opportunity to feature more violent fare. While many violent theatricals aired on television need to be cut to meet the standards of that medium, they can not always be cut nor can their scenes be changed without significantly altering the film or damaging viewers' understanding. Examples include Terminator 2, Under Siege, Die Hard 2 and Total Recall. This being the case, it is debatable whether the most violent theatrical films are at all appropriate for the broad medium of network television in whatever form. At the same time, network television has complete control over television movies and thus is entirely responsible for their content.
Among the three traditional networks (ABC, CBS and NBC) advisories were used only twice during the entire season for television movies and mini-series. The only two programs that issued advisories were Donato & Daughter on CBS and The Langoliers on ABC. Our monitoring indicated that there was a clear need for more advisories. Many of the titles listed or described above contained themes of violence or contained very graphic or intense scenes. Many needed advisories.
The Fox network seems to have a different policy with regard to the use of advisories. This is undoubtedly due to the lack of a 10:00 network hour and the fact that all movies must begin at the earlier hour of 8:00. Fox is much more willing to use advisories and frequently runs them several times during a program to alert those who might have started watching after the beginning of the programming. All four of the Fox television movies that we felt raised concerns did use an advisory. This is twice as many advisories as the three other networks combined.
In the appendix of this report is a list of all the television movies and mini-series that we believe should have had advisories.
Perhaps in an effort to appear more like theatrical films, television movies and mini-series contain more graphic scenes of violence than television series. The topics of many television movies, such as murder, abuse or rape, lend themselves to more graphic violence. But, in addition, the producers opt to more graphically depict these crimes than they do in most series. Examples of this graphic violence can be found in Lady Killer, Scarlett, Deadlocked: Escape from Zone 14, Falling for You, The Omen IV and Avalanche.
In some instances, the entire premise of the television movie is based on an act of violence. A large percentage of the films in this genre are predicated upon some sort of criminally violent activity. The world of some television movies is a world of murderers, psychotics, rapists and abusers. Although violence can be a legitimate and frequently constructive story device when treated responsibly, we occasionally found ourselves asking why this particular violent subject was chosen as the subject of a MOW. Some might argue that violent acts such as the Jim Jones' People's Temple massacre in Guyana or the Texas Cheerleader Mom are so inherently fascinating and say so much about our society that they easily justify being made into television movies. However, some of the subjects we saw featured in television movies during the 1994-95 season seemed to have no relevance or significance and just seemed to be sensationalized stories of criminal acts.
One sometimes gets the impression that the people who make these movies are searching for the most abysmal and sordid crimes that can be found in the depths of the human experience. Seldom do these stories inspire or uplift. They are depressingly detailed accounts of the worst people in society in the worst possible situations. Examples of this include Falling for You, Donato & Daughter, A Killer Among Friends, Gramps, Avalanche and Texas Justice.
As mentioned earlier, television movies have gone through cycles. In the past many were based on important historical occurrences (Holocaust, Winds of War) or the disease of the week (Brian's Song, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble). During the past season, there seemed to be a large number of television movies dealing with sexual and spousal abuse. These films were filled with predators, sadistic actions, stalking and psychological terror. While we clearly recognize sexual and spousal abuse as important social concerns worthy of negative exposure and condemnation, the abundance of films dealing with it and their melodramatic style detract from the seriousness of the issue. This cheapens and dilutes the issue, diminishing its impact by turning it into a convenient plot device too readily exploited for its shock value. Examples of this include: Dangerous Intentions, Lady Killer and Shadows of Desire.
A large number of made-for-television movies have ominous or threatening titles that imply the show will be violent, whether or not it actually is violent. Anyone reading a list of this season's television movies (see appendix) will immediately see that many of the titles are filled with words such as "dangerous," "killer" or "killing," "death," "deadly" and "fatal." This raises an interesting issue about the general philosophy of those who title these movies. It seems they do not believe that they can capture viewers' attention without making the movie sound dangerous. Even creators of a new television movie based on the old Bonanza series evidently felt the Bonanza title alone was not enough to attract viewers and added "Under Attack" to the title. Interestingly, the same "Under Attack" was also added to another remake of a television series: Simon and Simon. Examples include the following: Death in Small Doses, Escape from Terror, Lady Killer, Come Die with Me, Dangerous Intentions, Deadline for Murder, Fatal Vows, A Killer Among Friends, The Shadows of Evil, Simon and Simon: Under Attack, With Hostile Intent, Bonanza: Under Attack, Danger Island, A Friend to Die For, A Menu for Murder and many more.
Ironically, while some films with violent titles were relatively non-violent, two of the most violent television movies of the season had seriously misleading titles promising innocent family fare. Falling for You and Gramps promised content very different from what was delivered. This is a particular problem given the fact that these shows lacked advisories. Had there been advisories, viewers would have learned that the misleadingly titled movies Falling for You and Gramps contained intense acts of violence. Starring likable celebrities Jenny Garth and Andy Griffith and lacking advisories, these stories appear to be about falling in love and a kindly old grandfather.
A growing number of this season's television movies were based on current or past television series featuring action or violence creating, in effect, a two-hour episode of that program. While this practice is hardly problematic in and of itself, these movies are only based upon violent action series. In many instances, especially the Walker, Texas Ranger movies, this becomes an opportunity to "turbocharge" an action show, present it as a special episode and include more scenes of heightened violence. Frequently the hero faces an even more sinister opponent than in the regular television series. Examples are as follows: The Return of Hunter, Walker: Flashback, Walker: Standoff, Walker: War Zone, Bionic Ever After and Alien Nation.
Many television movies proudly fly the banner of "Based on a True Story." They do not mention, however, that many of these stories are, at best, loosely based on true stories. These "true" stories always seem to be about the most shockingly horrific and depraved tales of the atrocities that people commit. Very seldom are these stories of triumph over adversity or heroic deeds. For every inspiring teacher or parent, there are tens of crazed killers, sociopathic personalities or malevolent villains. (The very ugly picture of the world that emerges brings to mind George Gerbner's "mean world" scenario.) Examples include: A Killer Among Friends, Texas Justice and The Danger of Love.
As discussed previously, the percentage of children in the audience is greater at 8:00 than at later hours. Therefore, movies with contextually appropriate violence, that might however be inappropriate for children, should be reserved for later airing. Almost all television movies air during the 9:00 hour, which is appropriate. The two exceptions are Fox's television movies and ABC's Family Movie, Saturday at 8:00. As explained earlier, Fox has no choice but to air its movies at 8:00. Its only alternative is to run them in two parts at 9:00 on two successive nights and that is impractical. Fox compensates for this somewhat by a liberal application of advisories. ABC's Family Movie runs mostly theatrical films which will be discussed in the next section. NBC did air Gramps at 8:00.
The use of slow motion is obviously not exclusive to television movies. Its use has already been examined in television series. However, slow motion definitely finds its way into the genre of television movies where it raises the same issues as in series. Although directors would argue that it is an artistic device used to make the scene more dramatic, what it often does is just prolong and emphasize the violent act. Examples: Lady Killer and Texas Part II.
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