Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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r* a uomrovers (Editor's note: The following is the second of a two-part series about the ABC television production, "The Day After." The quota tions it contains were gathered from various published sources, including The Washington Post, Newsweek, Time and TV Guide.) By Allison Stein Sunday night, ABC will broadcast "The Day After," a highly controversial made-fortelevision movie about the aftermath of a massive nuclear attack on the United States. In addition to the discussion of the political implications of the film, there has been heavy debate over the actual network broadcast of the film. "The Day After" is a fictionalized, yet heavily researched depiction of the destruction of Kansas City by nuclear explosion and the effects on the survivors in nearby Lawrence, Kansas. k SOME PSYCHOLOGISTS have speculated the broadcast may have a profound adverse effect on viewers. The film's opening montage is deceivingly peaceful, belying the terrible event to come. Serene shots of golden fields and quiet stockyards, children playing in their yards, people at a football game ? ordinary people going about their daily routines. The characters are introduced in the standard television soap opera style. As their individual dramas unfold, news of interna tional tensions becomes news of international conflict as World War III begins. One of the most horrifying scenes is not one of death and destruction, but one of simi pie civilians silently watching the missiles rise ominously out of their silos and streak across the peaceful,blue Kansas sky. WHEN THE bomb drops on Kansas City, the visions of the nuclear hell become horribly, unrelentingly graphic. People are vaporized in the thermal pulse, structures collapse in the blast wave, firestorms engulf the rubble, the entire city dies a violent death. After a moment of silence, "The Day After" returns to its soap opera characters in Lawrence, only to watch them suffer the % lingering death and social disintegration of the post-holocaust world. 1 Jason Robards, Jobeth Williams, Steve Guttenberg and John Lithgow have the lead roles, but the stars aren't important. The concept, the scenario and the message are. I SKI ^ ... witl gpw 1SS.85 j additional items available with coupon R a one coupon per pizza j j good thru Sun. 11 -20-83 ;| ... and remember with Pint S iial TVjmoi It is a powerful film of strong visual images, with a strong message: nuclear war is horrible, but what comes afterward is worse. ABC WILL make the following announcement at the beginning of the film: "Although based on scientific fact, this film is fiction. Because the graphic depiction of the effect of the nuclear war may not be suitable for younger viewers, parental discretion is advised." In addition, the network will run two more advisory announcements during the course of the film. Both the network and Educators for Social Rpcnnncihilitv have recommended families watch the film together and no one watch it alone. ABC has screened the film for 10- to 16-year-olds and reports finding no adverse reactions. VIEWER'S GUIDES have been made available by the Cultural Information Service, the Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign Clearinghouse and the nuclear war education group Ground Zero. The guides are designed to aid the public in viewing the film and discussing the questions it raises. Images of this intensity are without orecedence on anv television network in the world. "The Day After" has been compared to "The War Game," a 1966 British Broadi P!ZZADG - .. ~ .... jkv^arotr^999i^EB9B5w^^E0^^H TriiiaS 1 is: $6.95 i dditional items available with coupon additional one coupon per pizza | '& o good thru Sun. 11 20-83 ^ . ||0( lease put name and number on coupon 25* COSES iiprm yon don't hill to gat a lata plm trie sparks Hb ^ i casting Corporation project that won the Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary. "The War Game" depicts, in documentary style, what would happen to the population if a nuclear bomb exploded near Kent, England. Based on scientific fact, is shows frantic, futile evacuation of women and children, firestorms devouring oxygen and humans, policemen executing the hopelessly injured, the dead, the dying, the breakdown of social order and the imposition of martial law. AFTER COMMISSIONING and funding the film, the BBC determined "The War Game" to be too realistic, too horrifying, to broadcast on television. They were afraid it would create a genral panic among the population. ABC is standing firmly behind its decision to broadcast "The Day After." Will it create a panic in America? Will America watch the film? The many antinuclear organizations are hoping America will watch "The Day After" and become involved in the antinuclear movement. To reach this goal, groups are sponsoring seminars, discussions and candlelight vigils, setting up an antinuclear hotline and distributing viewer guides to the film. The final cut of "The Day After" was SjTTR >RESS t5. r ^ M I I I . -v - n j: i First p '. -j2/?* '-ftftK r ' "P J n ^^ I located "TnTitem I $4.85 BU' items available with coupon ne coupon per pizza , )d thru Sun. 11-20-83 It to get * dliconnt. debate screened recently in Lawrence for the residents who worked on the film as production crew and as extras. THE CAMERA crew from the syndicated news program "Entertainment Tonight" J 1 nn/liari^a'c roor?tir\nc QC thpi/ ICV.UHJCU 111b auuiv.uv,v. i^avuuiu UJ mv; left the theater. The peole were speechless, somber, tearful and silent. They filed out of the theater as if they had just been pummeled for two hours. One woman was so overwhelmed by the film, her words were choked and difficult. "What can I say? It's all in the film," she said. Originally slated for a May 1983 airdate with a running time of four hours, the film was postponed until Sunday and pared down to two hours and fifteen minutes, including commercials. A SPECIAL edition of the ABC news program "Viewpoint" will follow the film. The network believes the public will want an analysis and commentary of the issues raised in the film. Nicholas Meyer, the film's director, said ABC originally planned to run the four-hour format in order to recoup the $7 million production costs through commercial revenues. But commercial time has not been selling well. Meyer urged ABC to shorten the film to three hours and run it all on one night instead of two. "No one is going to tune in to two nights of Armageddon. We'll be lucky if they last through one," he said. BUT AFTER shooting the four-hour version, ABC conceded to cutting it down to its current length. "The Day After" will now be shown with 11 commercial breaks before the bomb drops, leaving the second half of the film uninterrupted. Not many advertisers wanted their products to be associated with death and nuclear destruction. Others felt singing and dancing would be inappropriate interruptions in a film of such serious nature. But despite the cuts in the running time of the film, Meyer said, "This is the film I set See "Movie," page 19 1Mft BETA PHI nal Dues Deadline Tuesday, Nov. 22 00 for all members Box 80032 I AT**'Z?, 9y " WIDEWATER SQUARE j] after-game special ii tcher of Michelob reg. price j| Second FREE | w/^uupun g it Widewater Sq. on Broad River Rd. I expires 11/21/83 j! ii uous>i r ONE DINNER, GET I ONE Vi PRICE! |! (good with this coupon) ,! s all at Anna Haus!. . . Sij ou can eat buffet $3.95, 1 Music and dancing i i Points (Right behind Yesterday's) M