Re: Comments on the West Wing episode

["Michael Stabin" <michael.g.stabin@vanderbilt.edu>]

> There are all

> kinds of movies involving all kinds of accident, both real and some

> not so real. That is what is called entertainment.



This is true, and also not true, depends on what the entertainment industry

wants at the moment. China Syndrome was entertainment (remember the clicking

ion chamber?), but it was also clearly a political vehicle meant to sway

public opinion. The entertainment industry likes to have it both ways. I

remember after "Dirty Harry" first became popular and a 6 year old child

shot and killed his 4 year old brother, saying "Go ahead, punk, make my day"

and the entertainment industry squawked - "it's only a movie, it's just

entertainment, it can't actually affect anyone's behavior". But of course

they know very well that emotional stories can affect people, their choices,

their behavior, their votes, and they gleefully exploit this and then run

for cover when something bad happens. I know that story lines in movies, no

matter how well done they are, are usually so far removed from reality that

I should never use them as a knowledge base from which to make choices, but

many people do not see this distinction. "Legally", Hollywood is off the

hook, it's just entertainment, and unfortunately no one can hold them

accountable for inaccuracies ("we are absent malice", yeah right).

Practically it's true that dramatic stories influence people, and it's

important that knowledgeable people point out inaccuracies in movies, to try

and maintain some accuracy in people's thinking. It's an uphill battle, of

course, as millions see the show but only thousands read or see the possible

followup. But if no one even tries to fight the battle, it's lost

automatically.



Tit for tat would be movies about rabid anti-nukes plotting like terrorists

to invade reactors (e.g. in Australia), public safety be damned, let's blow

something up to make our point, etc. This would also be entertaining, and

mostly inaccurate, let Greenpeace do the followup.



Mike





Michael G. Stabin, PhD, CHP

Assistant Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences

Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences

Vanderbilt University

1161 21st Avenue South

Nashville, TN 37232-2675

Phone (615) 343-0068

Fax   (615) 322-3764

e-mail     michael.g.stabin@vanderbilt.edu

internet   www.doseinfo-radar.com







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