Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 28, 1993 TAG: 9311290160
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LYNN ELBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
Think of it as a 12-step program for a medium with an addict's appetite for the easy thrills of smash-bam-sorry-ma'am, please excuse the bloodstains on the living room carpet.
Skeptics question the industry's ability to control its cravings. Look at the record, responds the Entertainment Industries Council Inc., formed to raise Hollywood's awareness of health and social issues.
Alcohol, drug use, even car safety are treated seriously and thoughtfully on many television programs and films today, said Bryan Dyak, president of the industry- and government-funded EIC.
TV characters are routinely shown buckling seat belts. Cigarette smoking is bashed as unhealthy. A mild-mannered series like ``Home Improvement'' thinks twice before showing star Tim Allen downing a beer.
A new TV special, ``Hollywood Gets MADD,'' documents filmdom's changing attitude toward drunk driving. The free-for-all alcohol binge on wheels featured in ``Animal House'' has given way to messages about designated drivers in ``Say Anything'' and other recent films.
In its 10 years, the EIC has contributed a series of studies and ``depiction suggestions'' to help filmmakers and TV producers focus responsibly on such issues.
The council just issued a comprehensive volume with a weighty title: ``Spotlight on Depiction of Health and Social Issues: A Resource Encyclopedia for the Entertainment Community.''
The gray-and-blue volume suggests - never demands - how Hollywood might conduct itself in portraying a broad array of subjects including alcoholism, AIDS and drug addiction.
It is a serious, well-researched effort. It is also, clearly, intended to demonstrate that the industry can find ways to monitor itself without intervention from Washington lawmakers.
Given the growing stack of bills in Congress aimed at regulating TV violence, and the increasing outcry from public interest groups, the debate over TV and its role in society is far from an idle one.
``This particular approach, which we have experimented with over the years ... is OF the industry, as opposed to being done TO the industry,'' Dyak says of the encyclopedia.
A few tips from the council's encyclopedia:
On AIDS: Recognize and respect abstinence as a normal, healthy alternative. Consider whether casual sex is important to the story. Include discussion of safer sex and condom use in appropriate scenes.
On alcohol: Try not to glamorize the drinking or serving of alcohol as a sophisticated or adult pursuit. Try not to show excessive drinking without consequences, or with only pleasant consequences.
David McFadzean, co-executive producer of ABC's comedy ``Home Improvement,'' says the book has value even if it only reaffirms that a show is doing the right thing.
``We've made decisions as simple as Tim going out to the garage to work wi
th power tools and deciding `Let's put a Coke in his hands and not a beer,''' says McFadzean.
``Sometimes we don't catch those things, and we need to have resources that will question us,'' he said. Can the EIC project really make a difference? ``Call back in 10 years,'' he said, wryly.
McFadzean acknowledges the EIC project could be viewed as a ``sort of pre-emptive strike'' against outside regulation of TV content, which he opposes.
``I don't think that censorship or that legislation of morality works very well in the arts,'' he added.
Dyak says the council is researching TV and movie violence, trying to pull together dramatic alternatives to shootings, stabbings and fights.
``It's no different than talking about the alcohol issue,'' he says. ``Yes, the industry's gone a little too far. But that doesn't mean it can't come home and correct itself and it can't self-regulate.''
There is a kind of Catch-22 at work.
TV networks and producers have been loathe to concede that violence on television creates a violent society. They suggest lawmakers turn their attention to such bedrock problems as poverty, drugs and gun control.
But if TV's portrayal of alcohol and drug use abuse counts, why not violence?
Dyak believes ``the shift has finally occurred,'' with those in the TV industry accepting some responsibility for the impact of their programs.
Just what those 12-steppers say: Admit you have a problem and you've made the first move toward recovery.
by CNB