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Home video, an industry that barely existed 15 years ago, now generates revenues that exceed box office ticket sales. Home video is heavily dependent on the publicity and promotion attendant to a motion picture's release in theaters. While there has also been very successful non-theatrical home video content, such as exercise tapes and old television shows, most of the home video rental business comes from theatrical films.
Home video is divided into the purchase and rental markets. Increasingly people are purchasing home videos rather than renting them. Prices for purchasing videos tend to be either in the $13- $20 range or over $80. Increasingly, large motion pictures such as Jurassic Park or The Lion King are offered for sale at $15. Coupons for special promotions lower the price even more. Nevertheless, there seem to be a limited number of films that people want to own. The Disney animation classics and very popular films do well in the purchase market. Most viewers rent their home videos at their local video store.
In the areas of sex, language and violence, home video offers at least one level of protection for children not available in the other television distribution systems. Home videos are not available by merely clicking on channels on the television set. The viewer has to make an affirmative decision to go to a video store, select a film and rent it. The situation varies from store to store, but young children often cannot easily rent films because a cash deposit or, more frequently, a credit card is needed. Ideally, the video is watched in whatever room and at whatever time the parent decides. Films with sex or graphic violence can be viewed when the children are asleep. The video is small enough to be hidden or locked away from children who should not watch it. These controls have significantly contributed to the growth of pornography in the home video market and the spread of that material into CD-ROM.
With few exceptions, the content of theatrical films on home video exactly duplicates what is seen in the theater. When this is true, the MPAA rating is still applicable and can guide viewers as to the content of the video. Occasionally, the home video is different than what is seen in the theater. Sometimes additional footage is added to the film. Motion picture studios, belong to the MPAA which requires directors and producers deliver to them a film that will be rated no stronger than "R." In some cases, scenes have to be edited or completely eliminated to receive the "R" rating. Home video provides an opportunity to restore these scenes. But in most cases, home video replicates theater content.
Although home video is a system directly linked to the film business, the videos are shown on a home monitor and become part of the television system. Therefore, home video becomes a part of this monitoring project. We examined the top ten home video rental titles each quarter as determined by Billboard. The monitoring began with an early August, 1994 list and continued every three months in November, February and May. While we arbitrarily chose the initial week in which to begin, we were bound by the lists that followed at three-month intervals.
Once again, the goal of monitoring video rentals is not to determine whether these films raise concerns about their use of violence in their native environment of home video, but rather if they would raise concerns if shown in this form on the broadcast television networks. Film is a medium that appeals to an adolescent and young adult audience which is more tolerant of graphic or intense violence. As a result, one would expect many of the most popular video rentals to be action films that use violence as part of the story. It is not surprising that of the 40 home video rental titles examined over the past year, 22 would raise concerns if shown on broadcast television. Another five came very close to raising concerns as well.
More than a few of the home video rentals have titles which promise action or intense themes. Of the 22 films that would raise concerns on the networks, six, or more than 25%, have action titles. The six that do are Blown Away, Natural Born Killers, Speed, Time Cop, The Getaway and Clear and Present Danger. Of the 18 that would not raise violence concerns, none has an action or violent title.
Some of the films could probably be easily modified or edited to eliminate concerns on broadcast television. These films do not use violence throughout and contain scenes the length or intensity of which could be changed for broadcast without affecting the integrity of the story. Clear and Present Danger, though containing action scenes, is really a political thriller about American corruption and the South American drug trade. Its action scenes are typical of its genre and are only infrequently excessive. It would probably be easily adapted to broadcast television. The same is true with In the Name of the Father, a political film about the British treatment of Irish political prisoners. It could also be easily adapted. This also applies to I Love Trouble, The Nightmare Before Christmas and The River Wild. The only one of the three with intense scenes, many of them psychological, is The River Wild. An updated version of Deliverance, this film is about two criminals who terrorize a family on a river rafting trip. It does contain intense scenes of violence, but they are few in number.
Several of the films fall into the action category described in the broadcast television section on theatrical film. These films contain 20-40 scenes of violence that combine to form a context heavily dependent on violent action. It is impossible to edit out the problematic violence without removing huge portions of the film or destroying its ability to tell the story. These films raised more concerns about violence than any that appeared on broadcast television. The home video titles that fall into this category feature the same stars and themes. It is questionable if they could ever be shown on the broadcast networks without raising concerns about violence. Time Cop is another Jean-Claude Van Damme film. Like his other films shown on broadcast, local television and cable, it is full of violence. This is central to its appeal and it would be fruitless to try to remove all the violent scenes.
The Crow, Brandon Lee's last film, is also full of violence that is central to its story and appeal. This film contains some of the most graphic violence seen during the entire season. True Lies, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, contains dozens of scenes of violence that sustain the theme of the film. Though it has a comedic tone, it relies heavily on guns, explosions and much combat. Beverly Hills Cop III would also raise considerable concern, as is, on broadcast television. Its scenes, also frequently played for comedy, fill the film with violence and would raise concerns on the networks. One film, in which the comedic treatment diminishes concerns about minor scenes of violence and, therefore, would not be a problem on the networks is Naked Gun 33-1/3. The Specialist also falls into the category of films that contain violence at their core and would not easily adapt to the broadcast world.
Five of the films that could not appear on broadcast television without raising concerns about violence bring forth some interesting issues about different types and styles of violence. These films warrant more detailed discussions. They are the following:
Natural Born Killers, Oliver Stone's caustic satire of the way in which the media transforms violent criminals into celebrities, is an intentionally brutal film. One can not fully appreciate Stone's ironic point until he or she learns how completely violent and psychopathic Mickey and Mallory are. The film is filled with extraordinarily graphic and disturbing images. People are shot indiscriminately at close range and even Mallory's mother and father are brutally murdered. Later in the film, just as the viewer begins to "like" these psychotic killers, they kill in an increasingly brutal fashion. Stone uses a variety of styles to capture the chaotic feel of the story. He alternates between color and grainy black and white, and between slow motion, awkward camera angles and negative reverse images. Many of the same cinematic techniques are used in Stone's earlier film, JFK. Ever present is a hard-driving soundtrack that provides the pulse for the film. The film, as it intends to be, is overwhelming for the eyes and ears.
As with most satire, there is a debate about whether the audience understands the director's point. Those who do not are left with a long series of highly glorified, extremely graphic scenes. This is one of the most controversial films in years. In the hands of a less skilled film maker, Natural Born Killers would be viewed like other gruesome films such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
This is one of the few films that is unlikely to ever appear on broadcast network television. There are simply too many scenes of terrible violence and the story as a whole is about horrendously violent people. It would be impossible to take the violence out of the film without destroying the entire story. It would be equally difficult to edit the scenes. The director makes his point through the use of extraordinary violence and toning those acts down would change the meaning of the story. The director made this film for theatrical release and eventually home video. It is not a film for broadcast television.
One of the most honored films in years, Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List epitomizes the point that a film may contain very violent scenes and not raise concerns because of the appropriateness of the context. Because of its quality and the importance of the story, this film should be broadcast on network television, although it would most likely be edited somewhat. Several of the scenes are excessively violent and this is their purpose. This is the story of an excessively violent and senseless event and the graphic violence communicates that point.
Photographed in black and white, scenes such as the one showing a factory worker being shot in the head and falling on the ground as dark blood oozes out of his head onto the snow are more graphic than what is typically seen on broadcast television. Here the story warrants the graphicness. The same is true of the scene depicting the random shooting of prisoners in the courtyard from the commandant's tower. In our view, it is probably better if Schindler's List does appear as is on broadcast television than if it is edited or altered. In that case, it should be accompanied by strong advisories about its subject matter and some very violent images. As an extremely important film, this deserves some degree of latitude.
This is one of the most violent films monitored this season. Its graphicness is as intense and disturbing as can be seen in any form of video. It is exceptionally violent and without the important context of the above films. One scene in particular is excessive and only serves to disturb the viewer. In this scene, a spike is slowly driven into a hotel clerk's knee. It is a shocking image, far more violent than necessary, and it only serves to demonstrate how violent a theatrical film can be.
One of the biggest action films in several years, Speed is filled with many highly violent scenes. Theatrical audiences pay to see action films like this. Several shootings and the eventual decapitation of Dennis Hopper are extremely intense. Like other action films, some of the scenes will probably be toned down before this film ends up on broadcast television.
Also one of the most successful films of the year, this surprise hit launched Jim Carrey's film career. This is a comedy and the violent scenes are not as intense as in the films described above. Nevertheless, the film also strongly appeals to young children and contains images that might raise concerns in regard to that audience. Some of the many scenes are prolonged and excessive for a film with youthful appeal. As would be expected in a comedy, none of the scenes are graphic. Paring down the prolonged scenes of comedic violence would make this suitable for broadcast television.
The other home video rentals that would raise concerns on network television are the following:
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