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Turner Broadcasting introduced TNT after it achieved success with TBS and CNN. Created as a venue for Turner's vast library of films, TNT consists almost exclusively of theatrical and television movies. Since its beginning, TNT has financed or produced many large scale original productions. Some examples are discussed below. Since the creation of TNT, Turner has also developed two additional networks--one for its film library, Turner Classic Movies, and the other for all of the Hanna-Barbera product it owns, The Cartoon Network. Each channel has its own philosophy of programming and the philosophy of TNT is action movies.
Of the 20 films monitored on TNT in the two-week sample period, seven would raise concerns if shown on the broadcast networks. Several of the other 13 films come close to raising concerns. All of the films contain scenes of violence but treat them in a variety of different ways. The films that would raise concerns on the broadcast networks are as follows:
This film contains many scenes of prolonged violence, most of which would probably be trimmed before the film was shown on the networks. In one scene, the hero is forced to fight with one of the villain's henchmen in a battle to the death reminiscent of a gladiator competition. They first fight with baseball bats and later with a spiked version of the bats. Ultimately, the henchman is dispatched with blows to the gut and back of the head with the spiked weapon. Many of the scenes are not nearly as graphic as they could be, but the film, overall, contains a large amount of violence.
One of TNT's original productions, this film is filled with battle scenes between the Apaches and the soldiers. The use of violence is to be expected in this kind of historical docudrama and there is ample evidence of it. The problem is not the violence itself, which is relevant to the story, but the length of the violent battle scenes, some of which last as long as five minutes and show graphic images of stabbings and throats being slashed. The historical point could be made with less gratuitous violence. This film would raise concerns if shown on the broadcast networks.
This is another of TNT's original productions. Since Huey Long was assassinated, it follows that this film would include a scene of his murder and, therefore, contain violence. After Long is shot, his body guards riddle the assassin's body with bullets. The scene is absolutely integral to the story and must be shown. It is, however, excessively gory and goes on for a very long time. Slow motion is used to effectively extend the violence beyond real time. This scene would probably be edited somewhat before it ran on broadcast television.
Although this film runs for two hours, almost all of the 20 scenes of violence occur during the second hour. The film is full of all kinds of explosions. Very little of the violence is excessive or graphic, but there is just too much of it. It would be difficult to remove the violence and leave the story intact.
Another film with a large number of scenes of violence, Framed contains several brutal scenes of fighting. The film contains every conceivable method of committing a violent act. There are fists, guns and knives, scenes of torture, sexual violence and even a dog attack.
Red Dawn, which contains over 30 scenes of violence, is a combat film with political overtones. Since the fighting is rooted in patriotism, all of it is glorified. Although the political nature of this film is interesting, the endless scenes of violence are frequently redundant and detract from the story. Many of the violent scenes are gratuitous.
Although there are many scenes of violence, most of them further the plot and fit the context of the story. Several of the scenes demonstrate a clear use of restraint, illustrate remorse and show the consequences of the violence. The film contains much violence. But the use of an advisory would eliminate almost all concerns.
TNT's Saturday morning programming is not geared to children. If children did watch, they would see mild acts of violence in Westerns that would not raise concerns.
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