> I have a very pragmatic response, in which I want to support Justin
> Clouder. This ad was essentially the most shocking scene out of the
> R-rated teen horror flicks.
I can respect those who feel the ad was inappropriate, but let's not overdo
it. This scene was not even in the top 100 most shocking scenes from these
flicks. I only saw the first friday the 13th (a stupid movie), and it had
dozens of scenes that were much more shocking than anything in the
commercial.
> As for Friday the 13th and Halloween being on TV, at least we would be
making a conscious choice to view that >movie for our son. We had little
control over the ad since it was randomly inserted into what is otherwise
> non-offensive programming. The ability to control that choice is what is
at the heart of this issue, not just the content.
There are many commercials that are just as bad. What is less shocking
about someone getting into a car accident with glass all over the place?
What about the anti-smoking commercial with body bags surrounding a building
(any kid who can read will get that one)? What about any number of violent
WWF promotions - to say that the Nike ad was any worse than those is
ridiculous. I could go on, but this commercial was TAME compared to
commercials I have seen with network news and other "family-time" shows.
>As for the Gladiator ad, it did not have the same shock level, nor quite
the same level of implied violence. The >skateboarder obviously was not
taking the gladiator seriously, implying that it was a fantasy which my son
>seemed to be able to pick up readily.
I can't disagree that the gladiator had had little shock value. As a matter
of fact, it was really stupid and I didn't even remember that it was a Nike
commercial until it came up on the list. But as for implied violence, the
gladiator ad had a lot more implied violence. Christ, a guy with a sword
swinging and barely missing a teenage kid's head. The chainsaw guy hardly
got anywhere near Suzy.
It's all a matter of perception. Plenty of 5-10 year old kids were not
bothered in the slightest by the ad. Others were. Plenty of kids from
broken homes get disturbed by commercials showing a father having to talk to
a child on the phone because he can't be there, yet no one's pulling those
ads.
American society doesn't blink at the type of violence in gladiator
commercial - it's accepted. Yet somehow we can't have our kids seeing an
individual man threaten an individual woman in the dark. No wonder when
kids reach puberty and have to deal with real life threats and situations
they are totally unprepared.
- Ed Parrot
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
