OCTOBER 29,1993 — THE DECREE — PAGE 3
Television, parents share responsibility
By PATWCK BRANNAN
Television and motion picture
violence has been in the news re
cently. There were Senate hear
ings held this past week on the
issue and a number of incidents
have been blamed on television
or movies.
Over the weekend, at least
three deaths were linked to an
incident in the movie The Pro
gram from Touchstone Pictures.
In the movie a couple of drunk
college football players lay in the
road. This past weekend two teen
agers and a man, according to
newspaper reports, were killed
after attempting the same “stunt.”
(Continued from Page 2)
My ability to change direction,
to adapt to a new project, is ex
actly why you are at a liberal arts
college rather than at an institu
tion whose purpose is to train you
for a specific skill. Learning to
fix air conditioners (as my
nephew has decided to do) is
learning a skill. Pursuing the cur
riculum and meeting the goals of
Gun control aims
at wrong solution
(Continued from Page 2)
by the emphasis on victimization.
The celebration of the rebellious
in society, and the deterioration
of the family plays a role. These
are harder problems to solve, but
they are the real avenue to reduc
ing our death toll on the streets.
Banning guns, though, is
trendy. It is as if people believe
that the violent tendencies will
no longer manifest themselves
just because the offenders no
longer have weapons. Beatings,
though, and the use of non-fire
arm weapons cannot be stopped
by banning fists or cooking
knives. The government is going
to have to try a different approach
if it wants to stop violence.
President Clinton and Attor
ney General Reno have each said
that we need to tell the National
Rifle Association to “get lost”
Taking a stand may be politically
profitaW^ but socially, jt can only
harm us. '
The scene has been cut from the
film and removed from advertise
ments.
The death of a two-year-old
girl was blamed on the television
show Beavis and Butt-Head,
MTV’s most popular show, ac
cording to Newsweek. Her five-
year-old brother started a fire af
ter playing with matches. The
children’s mother, who was not
home at the time, blames the char
acter Beavis’ fascination with fire
as the cause of her child’s death.
The show which used to air at 7
and 11 p.m. has been moved to
10:30 p.m. and Beavis no longer
utters his infamous words, “Fire,
Fire!”
a liberal arts college is learning
how to learn, how to change, how
to be.
I want my nephew to learn his
lessons well and to know how to
fix air conditioners; I want my
students to be able to adapt to the
kaleidoscope of changes in the
business world, the academic
world, or the scientific world, and
to be able to cross among them.
You may think that it doesn’t
matter that I am plunged into a
new project and stretching my
abilities to research and to write,
but your teachers are better for
the time they spend keeping them
selves intellectually limber. You
may find this statement grandi
ose; you may well think that I’ve
been reading too much Victorian
prose. Nevertheless, I mean what
I say.
People who are trained to be
scholars are often misunderstood.
They can be seen as pedantic
Dryasdusts who achieve erotic
thrill from burrowing into arcane
materials. Or they can be seen as
elitist, tax-supported layabouts on
extended vacations.
I may never teach a class on
Leslie Stephen as a biographer,
but what I’m learning will be a
part of every class I teach — from
composition to English 410. I’m
stiU in the midst of my project,
collecting note cards and cita
tions. I don’t know how or even
if I will finish. I wonder (just as
you do) how I will meet my dead
lines. But I’m onto something.
I’m engaged. I’m becoming. And
I’m very busy.
Opinion
In the hearing on Capitol Hill
the television networks and the
motion picture industry were
given until January to clean up
their act or face regulation.
I’ll be the first to admit that
TV has too much violence in
some cases. But the question is,
who is responsible? Who must
deal with the consequences? Is
the media supposed to reflect so
ciety or be a model to society?
What role must parents play?
The TV networks and the mo
tion picture industry must self-
regulate themselves. The media
play a major role in our society.
TV and the movies hold an enor
mous amount of power and influ
ence on people, especially chil
dren. Therefore, the networks and
movies must understand that they
have this power and control them
selves accordingly.
There cannot be direct regula
tion by an outside force on the
media. Attorney General Janet
Reno said in the hearings that,
“regulation of violence is consti
tutionally permissible.” The First
Amendment protects the freedom
By CECILIA CASEY
On Oct. 6 students from North
Carolina Wesleyan College vis
ited the Rocky Mount Playhouse
Community Theater to see
“Noises Off,” written by Michael
Frayn. All of Vaughn Schutz’s
theater classes along with
Vivienne Anderson’s honors the
ater class attended the dress re
hearsal of the play.
“Noises Off,” or rather, noises
off stage, is a farce about every
thing that could go wrong with a
play’s production and perfor
mance. Each actor played the part
of both another actor and the char
acter that actor was playing for
“Nothing On,” the play within the
play “Noises Off.”
This British play challenges
technical theatre as well as puts
directing to the test as it toys with
the heart of “live theater” by
showing just how wrong a play
can go. Missed lines, faulty props,
drunk actors, and lots of confu
sion create a behind-the-scene
look at the silly side of theater.
■'' S trelAig' perfcjrrtaacfe's • Were
of the press. This protects TV and
the movies from forced regula
tion.
I have no problem with the
fact that the government has asked
the networks and the motion pic
ture to voluntarily regulate them
selves, but I think that any forced
regulation or censorship violates
the Constitution.
Brandon Tartikoff, former
head of NBC Entertainment and
now an independent producer,
told U5 Today, “TV needs to be
rapped on knuckles, yes. But at
the same time it shouldn’t take
the rap for what’s happening in
society.”
TV must regulate itself in re
gards to the material on the shows.
As Eileen Shiff, a family studies
teacher at a Arizona community
coUege, said, “The media should
use its powerfiil influence on chil
dren positively, as kids spend
more time with the TV than their
parents” Yet it must not be
blamed for the problems of soci
ety.
Parents also have a responsi
bility to teach their children about
reality and imagination, right and
wrong, and to teach them moral
standards. It is a sad fact that chil
dren spend more time with TV
than their parents (just another
Review
given by Ivan Price, who had the
double role of Garry Lejeune and
Roger Tramplemain; Debra
Arrington, who played Belinda
Blair/Flavis Brent; Sim Wilde
who played Seledon Mowbray/a
Burglar; and Robert Bloomer who
played the director of “Nothing
On.”
The play moved quickly and
to spite the plot, it moved
smoothly, with endless entering
and exiting of the stage, a million
short lines within both plays, as
well as lots of physical running
and jumping.
The plot was that the cast of
“Nothing On” was rehearsing the
play and trying to get ready for
opening night followed by two
nights during the tour of the play.
The inner plot of “Nothing On”
was that this couple who was in
trouble for not paying their taxes
was supposedly away in Spain,
tvhae their hdusekeepef stays in
sad fact of society today). The
parents are the ones who should
assume the positions of role mod
els for their children.
Our society today has become
to much of a quick, little family
time society. We can see the ef
fect it is having on our children.
As Jeff Greenfield, ABC’s media
watcher, says, “My fia^t reaction
to the Beavis incident should be,
gimme a breaL Leaving a five-
year-old with matches is not a
good thing.” American society
should not rely on the media to
set our moral standards.
In the Oct. 21 issue of USA
Today there is a chart about TV
violence. NBC had the fewest
number of violent incidents per
hour with a 2.91 rating while the
Fox network had the highest with
a 5.92 rating. Also the chart states
that, “the average child watches
up to 8,000 made-for-TV mur
ders and 10,(XX) acts of violence
by the end of grade school.”
The media industry must take
more responsibility and parents
must become more involved with
the education and leadership of
their children. Children must have
strong role models in their par
ents so they do not turn to char
acters like Beavis and Butt-Head
as role models.
their house to watch it for them.
The house is up for sale and
the real estate agent brings his
girl-friend there to have sex while
he thinks the house is empty. The
couple comes back from Spain
and the five people keep missing
each other as they go from room
to room. A burglar then breaks
into the house who happened to
be the father of the girlfriend of
the real estate agent. Throughout
this the actors are having affairs,
fights, nerves, and a baby.
Overall, the Playhouse did a
good job of performing and in
ducing this odd-ball play. For
those new to theater it might have
seemed bewildering to see actors
doing the unthinkable, blowing
their lines and messing up the set,
but for those who are well famil
iar with the theater it was a de
light to see the split-second tim
ing, the dual roles of the actors,
and the importance of the props
become a play all to themselves.
Hopefully the Playhouse will
continue to deliver plays that are
as well acted and as well designed
as‘‘Noises Off.” ,
Sabbaticals help
recharge faculty
‘Noises Off’ was well done