dcc@packet.UUCP (Dave Caulkins) (11/13/83)
On Sunday November 20th at 8PM ABC will present a dramatization of the events surrounding a nuclear attack on the U.S. Some of my friends have seen previews, and they say it is a vivid and some times difficult thing to watch, but its importance can hardly be understated. I hope many will watch; I look forward to comments in net.tv. Dave Caulkins ...decwrl!amd70!packet!dcc
plunkett@rlgvax.UUCP (Scott Plunkett) (11/15/83)
Conservatives are upset about the ABC-TV movie "The Day After" due to its already obvious leanings toward the liberal/left delirium. It has been reported that the producers sought the opinion of nuclear-freeze advocates to better tailor the movie and its publicity to the politics of the left. The method the producers have chosen for depicting the use of nuclear weapons will merely aggravate the fear we all have regarding nuclear war, without contributing anything at all positive to its actual avoidance and eventual removal of the threat. It is gasoline on the flames of hysteria and is therefore an irresponsible movie. I recommend watching Masterpiece Theatre instead.
bch@unc.UUCP (Byron Howes ) (11/17/83)
What, pray tell, is the "liberal/left" delirium that "The Day After" leans toward? What would a "conservative" portrayal of a post-nuclear world be like? What method would a more conservatively oriented film use to depict the use of nuclear weapons? When I listen to military strategists talk about nuclear confrontation and limiting civilian casualties to the (pick your number) millions, I get a sense of players at a board game putting tokens into the "deceased" bin. It is high time, if this is in fact the case, that people stopped dealing with nuclear weapons as chits in a game and began dealing with them as real and dangerous implements. Both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R have sufficient nuclear hardware to destroy the earth several times over. If the TTAPS simulations are correct, neither side has to even come near their targets to accomplish this. At what point does this buildup of nuclear weapons avoid nuclear war? At what point do we "avoid the problem and eventually eliminate it?" I see no signs of anyone in power, Soviets or U.S., making any moves toward this end. When I do, I may become a little less emotional abbout this issue. Until that time, it is unlikely that any teleplay could aggravate my fear of nuclear weapons beyond the point it has already been aggravated by the recent foreign policy directions in the U.S. Byron Howes UNC - Chapel Hill decvax!duke!mcnc!unc!bch
msc@qubix.UUCP (Mark Callow) (11/20/83)
In an article in TV Guide Nicholas Meyer, director of "The Day After",
mentions that "Eighteen years ago the BBC commissioned the same film from
Peter Watkins and, when they saw the result, banned it from the airwaves."
By "same" I do not know of he means the same script or the same subject.
The film was instead released to the cinemas and my high school
film-society showed it. It was powerful stuff. After 15 years there
are 2 things I remember very clearly. One was the depiction of the
fire-storms on the fringes of the blast area and the other was scenes
of the (normally unarmed) British police armed with revolvers going
round shooting people who were beyond the limited medical help available.
The few doctors and hospitals left were, of course, swamped with victims.
I do not think the BBC should have banned the film. I hope they would
not do the same thing today. The film was called, I think,
"The War Game". The BBC banned it because they deemed it too frightening
for the general populace.
"The War Game" was released not long after Dr. Strangelove which I had
seen. From Dr. Strangelove I got the message about the stupidity of
the blowing up yourself and the world in retaliation for an attack upon
yourself but the mushroom cloud at the end of the film gave a very
abstract feeling to the destruction. The horror of the destruction
and its aftermath was vividly brought home by "The War Game".
--
Mark Callow, Saratoga, CA.
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