Action And Violence (1980)

[Music] [Music] you frightened me I frightened you yes why did you scream like that well that's one way to get some attention around here I never needed any attention that bad why don't we get some light on in here and tell everybody what's going on okay this is a television Studio I'm Bing Bingham and we're doing a show about television action and violence and I'm Nan Lin Nelson we started this show in the most dramatic way we could think of because that's how television Works shows are designed to grab our attention and then to hold it as part of Storytelling plots use action humor and sometimes violence considering our subject this show should hold your attention la [Music] one way or another most television programs open with an attention grabber it's so way of getting you interested fast and keeping you tuned in there's a lot of competition for your attention in television land there are so many channels and they all want you to stay tuned well that's the job of a broadcaster it's okay but we have to understand what's going on life isn't like TV where everything is either very funny or very sad or very exciting with few inet television is certainly successful in holding our attention but it doesn't do us any favor if we learn from it that the most fun in life comes from taking risks or winning fights yeah but some of the action is real and part of life and television shows us that take football now that's exciting you're right sports are a natural for television a game is built like a play there's a beginning a middle and an end and it's fun to watch wow they really nail that guy it's too rough for me what do you mean I love the action somebody could get hurt yeah but these are highly trained athletes and they wear protective gear and they're taught how to take the falls and the blocks without getting hurt I worry about the kids who pretend they're big-time quarterbacks and don't even have a helmet there's another kind of violence on television newscasts often include violence because the news reports reflect the events that happened that day and whether we like it or not much news consists of unusual angry or violent Behavior but it's important to remember that the news that we see on television or reading the newspapers or he on the radio isn't an accurate reflection of everything that happens in real life the newscast must select those events which are important unusual or interesting you'll never see a newscast report that breakfast in your house was fun this morning or that your dad took you and your friends to the movies these events are just too ordinary to be called news even though they happen far more often than a plane crash or a gun shooting there are many kinds of action and adventure shows on TV and many of them have violent scenes but the kind of violence we see on make belief programs is different from the violence we see on the news we know that it's not real I'm a gun for hire yeah I'm a black belt and my hands are a Lethal Weapon I can turn into a monster and defeat all attackers I'm made of steel I'm a law enforcement [Music] officer but sometimes I think I'm a Target and people want me for practice prepare to defend yourself hey wait a minute why pick on me I'm just a pussycat I thought you were a tiger take this and that and this well this is a show about television so uh we had to have a fight can I get up now I'm not really hurt actors in television fights don't get hurt because the fights are carefully rehearsed now let's go over that fight slowly first of all the most important thing when you're staging a television fight are the camera angles and the actor's reactions now from this camera angle you'll be able to see that man's hands don't ever touch me you ready Nan here we go one two three that now when we shoot the same fight from this angle from behind beinging and he adds his reactions and we throw in a few sound effects it'll really appear as though we're having a real fight watch here we go okay two three television fights are just another kind of special effect except they're done by actors and some time stunt men and stunt women let's make believe this is a really dramatic show and I'm going to get my revenge oh he's so sweet always giving me [Music] flowers I bet you're wondering why I didn't knock Nan out well I used what we call a breakaway pot now here's a breakaway bottle watch Breakaway pots and bottles are fixed so that they break easily they're not even made of clay just a kind of Spun sugar now here's a breakaway chair wouldn't want one of those in my living room all fights on television are staged and rehearsed and when people are hit with something it's usually light as a feather now if this were a cartoon my head would be split in half and I would be talking to you from both sides of my mouth we laugh at the darnest things when they happen in cartoons but did you ever notice how quickly cartoon characters recover it only takes cartoon characters a few seconds to bounce back from what for us would be the most horrible accidents we almost never see the results of violence in cartoons or in realaction television programs well that's because the action takes place in a play World of entertainment we should never confuse the pretend violence we see on television programs with the real pain injury and sorrow that violent Behavior can cause real life we should point out that dramatic shows and comedies on television often show us how people solve problems without fist or guns yes of course and many important plays have been written about violent conflicts but most of the time the writer lets us know that violence hurts and people are the losers we can even learn how to solve problems by watching television yeah and sometimes those Solutions start with words like um I'm sorry or other words like I didn't really mean to hurt your feelings when I or I didn't know you cared so much about um try I'm sorry I upset you I really want to be your friend folks it's the let's try to avoid a fight and make friends game can we find a way to be friends I mean it's silly for us to be fighting all the time gee you know I'm really sensitive about certain things I made a mistake I'm sorry I like the sound of that one usually the simplest most honest statement of how you feel is the best people do disagree and quarrel sometimes even best friends get into arguments and that's okay you need to be able to disagree with people but we don't go around clunking people we disagree with on the head it may seem funny or exciting or it might even tickle your interest but the television action way of solving problems is not the way most people in real life solve theirs in our everyday world the people who solve problems with guns and fists and reckless driving end up in prisons or in hospitals and that's not for me or me either living in the real world is too much fun and so is watching television if you use your head bye now [Music] are you set he