RE: CSI Miami I-131 Episode

["Ted Rockwell" <tedrock@CPCUG.ORG>]

I certainly hope that Ruth is right: that art and entertainment do affect

how "ordinary people" think and feel.  All of my kids are in the arts, and

they certainly work on that premise.



I also concede that trying to change the art producers is a frustrating, and

often counterproductive experience.



But perhaps there is another way to look at this situation. If business

people, lawyers and politicians almost never acted in a blatantly unethical

manner, then being portrayed that way in a movie would be anomalous.  It

would be like occasionally seeing a soldier portrayed as cowardly--nothing

to worry about.  Similarly (watch it now, here's the zinger), if nuclear

professionals were generally quick to challenge inaccurate statements or

unwise policies by public officials, scientists, regulators, advisory

committees, etc., then a comment on a TV show might be needed less often and

would be seen as consistent with how we act during the rest of our lives.



Just a thought.



Ted Rockwell



-----Original Message-----

From: owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu

[mailto:owner-radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu]On Behalf Of

RuthWeiner@AOL.COM

Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2003 4:12 PM

To: "Sandy Perle"; radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu

Subject: RE: CSI Miami I-131 Episode





I believe the problem arises because most people's experience of ionizing

radiation and radioactive materials is not only fictional, but just this

kind of fiction.  Most people have enough experience with lawyers and

doctors to know that fictional protrayals don't apply to all members of a

profession and can be exaggerated.



Having said that, I recall that a few months ago number of  AMA members took

ER (I think) to task for portraying complete recovery of stroke and heart

attack victims.  The AMA members pointed out that most people admitted to

emergency rooms with severe acute heart problems are elderly and rarely

recover anything like completely normal functioning.  So they are concerned

too.



My main point is that most people's experience of radiation is what is

portrayed in entertainment venues, and it's almost always adverse. How about

show where a Tc-99 injectionfinds a severe fracture?  How about a sci-fi

show in which a nuke plant saves a community from total blackout?  I don't

think one ever sees those.



Finally, it's not "just entertainment."  Movies like "The Best Years of Our

Lives," "schindler's List," and "Marty,"  the muckraking novels of Upton

Sinclair, "It Can't Happen Here" by Sinclair Lewis, "The Crucible" by Arthur

Miller, the opera "Wozzeck," the plays of Berthold Brecht, and Picasso's

"Guernica," just to name a few, are all powerful and influential social

commentary.  The last, in fact, is so powerful that the current US

administration looks on it with disfavor.



I disagree with Sandy.  It is important to speak out regarding distorted

portrayals of radiation, no matter how fictional they are.



Ruth Weiner, Ph. D.

ruthweiner@aol.com

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