COMMUNICATION:
Media, Arts, & Society | January 23, 1984
THE
TWILIGHT
ZONE
HELICOPTER
CRASH
A
Published Letter to
Howard
Rosenberg, TV Critic of Los Angeles Times
In regard to the recent footage of The
Twilight Zone helicopter crash, which killed actor Vic
Morrow and two children, I must disagree with your contention
that "showing the impact wasn't necessary." The central
issue in the court case stemming from the crash is whether
actors were placed in a position of excessive danger by various
excessively enthusiastic members of the production crew in
search of an extremely exciting dramatic effect.
Like you, I am disgusted with the horrendously
death-defying stunts on That's Incredible: The taking
of such enormous unnecessary risks just for the morbid
fascination of it all was more at home in the ancient Roman
Colosseum than in modern American Television.
Unlike you, however, I believe that the best way
to put an overdue end to this proliferation of human
exploitation is for the news, on TV and in the other media, to
not pull any punches when it comes to showing us the very real
consequences of such dangerous stunts.
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