hmmm...his comments were pretty fair, but the media is trying to stir things up "berg is a hypocrite etc".....
from spielbergfilms.com:
November 21, 2006
Spielberg speaks out against violence in TV promos
More information has been published across the media on the interview that Steven Spielberg participated in at yesterday's International Emmys luncheon in New York City. Unfortunately, some of this information has been reported and/or taken out-of-context, sending some online sources, particularly media-minded bloggers, to take Spielberg to task for misconstrued statements.
The big news that was making the rounds today was Spielberg's discussion with the sundry industry executives at the Emmy luncheon about portrayals of violence on television. Unfortunately, even this
article from The Hollywood Reporter (which seems to have kicked off the trickle down reporting) seems to have signals crossed, first stating that Spielberg was decrying violence in teen and adult programming like the "CSI" dramas and "Heroes."
The Reporter points out, as do other sources, that controversy erupted when Spielberg's R-rated films "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan" screened un-edited on network television. Famously, "Saving Private Ryan" even ran afoul of Federal Communications Commission debate when it last aired. Talk of levying fines on affiliate ABC stations caused a media firestorm, until it was ruled that the film, while obviously extremely violent, did not violate decency standards as defined by the FCC.
None of this is the point from yesterday's interview, however, as Spielberg wasn't pounding a pulpit on the violence in adult programming per se, but as the Reporter mentions in passing itself, the "on-air promotions" for the aforementioned shows and their like.
Unfortunately, the same interview saw Spielberg mention that a scene in "Heroes," a show that he openly proclaimed as his favorite program of the new season, depicted a character being ripped in two. The filmmaker mentioned that the scene was too graphic for his younger children, and so as a conscientious parent, he sent them out of the room. A direct line between this and Spielberg's discussion about violence in television spots that air throughout the day has been drawn and because of this, some media sources are crying foul that Spielberg is being contradictory considering some of his past work.
Obviously Spielberg made a choice within his parental rights that his younger children would be able to handle a TV-14 program airing during what was once known as family viewing hours ("Heroes" airs before safe harbor kicks in at 10 p.m.) He was not making a judgment against television executives or producers about mature programming that is too violent, rather, that violence-filled promotions and commercial spots have free run of networks throughout the day. It's an important distinction, and Spielberg isn't the only parent with a serious concern for television and film marketing inappropriate for younger audiences airing at inappropriate hours on network television.
"Today we are needing to be as responsible as we can possibly be, not just thinking of our own children but our friends' and neighbors' children," Spielberg said during the interview.
Spielberg also talked about the power of television as a communication medium.
"We certainly need to be responsible and careful about what we put into that box, because what comes out the other end truly has changed the world and will continue to change the world, for better or worse," he said. "I'm happy to think it is changing the world for the better."
