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Wednesday, May. 28, 2003 - 9:54 a.m.
Domestic Violence PSA's

Calgary televisions will not be picking up the latest public service announcements (PSA's) on domestic violence because the Television Board of Canada deems them too graphic for television viewing. (Watch them. Seriously. With sound.) They attempt to put a typical domestically violent situation outside the home, saying that if it isn't tolerated there, it shouldn't be tolerated at home. I've seen these PSA's. They are pretty graphic. Brutal, really, but entirely believable. I can understand why it is considered too graphic for TV.

The difference between this violence and violence you see on prime time TV or the movies is this: You are not supposed to really care about the victims in movies, even if the victim is innocent, or a good guy. You can't empathize with the victims of gang violence (unless you're sufficiently close to it) or the ones blown away by Bruce Willis is several of his movies. There is a sufficient layer of unreality there to soften the blow of this depicted violence. It's obvious that it either isn't real, or doesn't matter.

In these PSA's however, it is pretty obvious that what you are seeing is terribly wrong. Your heart goes out to the victims of these deranged criminals. It's tough to watch. No one really wants to see it.

A few years ago PSA's ran in Quebec (maybe the rest of Canada, too) warning of the dangers of speeding. You should have seen the bodies and the carnage in these commercials. A woman's head through a windshield at an impossible angle. A man, so obviously dead, impaled by his steering wheel. These commercials had chilling impact. I'll never forget them.

The violence in these commercials has a positive social value, unlike most movie and television violence. Sometimes it takes a blow to the head, metaphorically speaking, to wake people up. I don't think it was necessarily a good idea to abandon them outright. Maybe they could have appeared after 10 pm or something. It would be interesting to see what would happen if it were shown in a home where such violence occurs regularly. How uncomfortable would that be?

Addendum: An onlnie acquaintance went through years and years of brutality at the hands of her father, as did her mother and brother. Some years after that:

Ironically a few years back I discovered my neighbour was a "wife beater". I heard him thru our common wall attacking his wife, I called the cops and six policemen showed up. Boy have things changed! Though his wife did not wish to press charges there were marks on her so the cops could lay the charges. He was not permitted back into the family home until he had completed a 12 week anger management program. A year later he knocked on my door and said "Thank you, no one told me it was you but I suspect that it was you that called the cops that night. You have made a huge postive difference in my life and I really have to thank you for that".

This story is incredibly touching. I just wanted to share. Perhaps the ads would inspire people to do what this lady did. Or maybe it would be better to show this story as a PSA.

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