HAS anyone stopped
to wonder whether
North Vancouver
District Councillor
Ernie Crist is right?

Could it be that we're
simply being bamboozled by
the powerful, self-interest of
the television and film indus-
tries?

Crist has been 4 longtime
campaigner against one of
the most despicable scourges
of modern times: TV and
movie violence.

According to a 1992 TV
Guide study, kids witness an
average of more than 8,000
murders and 10,000 violent
acts by the time they finish
elementary school. And that
doesn’t include some of the
overly-graphic scenes of rape,
dismemberment and other
atrocities commonly encoun-
tered by children in our age
of mula-media.

I can’t believe that most
parents or grandparents actu-
ally take the time to screen
those godawful, sometimes
horrific, video games they’re
wrapping up and placing
under the Christmas trees. If
they did, I’m almost certain
they wi ouldn’t have pur-
chased them as gifts for
impressionable young kids in
the first place.

As a parent, I know that
it’s virtually impossible to
monitor all of the media con-
sumed by children. And per-
sonally, I don’t have a lot of
faith that the celebrated V-
chip is the solution to media
violence. It’s simply too per-
vasive.

And the television and
movie industries operate with
little accountability to indi-
viduals, families and commu-
nities who express genuin:
concerns about the relentless
impact of media violence on
our lives.

So, when Ernie Crist
brought a seemingly harmless
proposal to North Vancouver
District Council on Monday
evening, the reaction was
both predictable and regret-
table.

Crist said that since the
municipality spends tax dol-
lars fighting crime and vio-
lence in the community,
maybe it should try to ‘be
consistent and practice the
courage of the community’s
convictions.

Crist was not proposing
— as some have sought to
misrepresent him — that film
or television productions
should be prohibited in the
district.

Far from it.

His relatively tame sug-
gestion was that television
and movie crews seeking
approval to use municipal
facilities, such as the munici-
pal hall or recreation centres,
should not be permitted if

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gallery on Monday evening.

elected representative ser-

producing shock and schlock.

best examples of this princi-

n right track in TV violence fight

a second

opinion

their productions are of the
kind that are replete with
gratuitous violence.

Now admittedly, it would
be difficult to administer
such a regulation. But no
one can deny that the
instinct behind Crist’s pro-
posal is both decent and
honorable. That is, unless
you heard the howls of abuse
and derision from the peanut

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If we are to believe the
industry alarmists, such a
move by North Van District
Council would cause shock
waves in Hollywood and sig-
nal the beginning of the end
for the television and movie
business in Canada.

Such assertions are ludi-
crous and represent the worst
kind of bullying and intimi-
dation by an industry that is
much too accustomed to get-
ting its own way.

What's worse, some resi-
dents of North Vancouver
who spoke at Monday
night’s council meeting
attempted to belittle Ernie
Crist in insulting and conde-
scending tones. Why?
Because he’s a concerned cit-
izen taking his job as an

ously?

Or was it because he was
speaking out for parents and
grandparents who are
appalled by some of the truly
sickening images produced
by the masters of media?

A few who attended the
council meeting said that
they shared Crist’s concern
about violence in the media,
but they claimed he was
going about solving the
problem the wrong way.

Well, what's the right way
then?

Why haven’t those
enlightened souls who work
in the television and movie
business come up with some
constructive suggestions for
dealing with the issue?

I guess they’re roo busy

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Some of Crist’s critics,
mostly from the self-interest-
ed media business, have sug-
gested that he’s adv ocating
censership. This is pure,
unadulterated nonsense and a
convenient but cowardly
shield to hide behind. Since
when does setting a commu-
nity standard for the use of
publicly-owned facilities con-
stitute censorship?

If we've learned anything
in recent years, it’s that the
world changes "slowly, and
usually as a result of the
actions of individuals within
their own neighborhoods
and communities.

The environmental move-
ment provides one of the

ple. If it makes sense to think
globally and act locally, then
maybe Ernie Crist is right.

Keep in mind that he’s
the most popular politician
on the North Shore, who last
month received a larger
number of votes than any
other municipal politician in
our region.

My guess is that Crist will
keep fighting the good fight.

-— The North Shore News

believes strongly in freedom of
speech and the right of all sides
in a debate co be heard. The
columnists published in the
News present differing points
of view, but those views are not
necessarily those of the newspa-
per itself.

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