Breaking the News
The news anchor stared down at us with a serious-as-a-heart attack expression on her face and spoke in a low, somber tone.
"The video you're about to see is graphic, and some might find it disturbing."
Not so much a warning as an intonement by the news people for you not to turn the channel.
Anyhow, the "graphic" and "disturbing" video to which she was referring was never-before-seen footage (another great TV term to suck you in) of Michael Jackson's Pepsi Cola accident while filming a commercial for the soft drink in 1984. The one where his hair catches fire -- very briefly.
The footage was aired, and it hardly was befitting of the warning that accompanied it.
A pyrotechnic explosion brightens the screen, then we see Jackson, from behind, beginning to dance down a staircase. A wisp of flame appears on top of his head, which grows to a small bonfire just as crew members rush to him and put his hair out. The whole incident takes up maybe 8-10 seconds of screen time.
Not graphic. Not even that disturbing. It's not like Jackson died because of the accident, after all.
Maybe the young female anchor has never heard of the Zapruder film? Or Vic Morrow, if you're going to go the entertainment route?
Now THERE'S some graphic and disturbing footage, lady.
The Zapruder film is, of course, the visual recording of President Kennedy's last moments alive in Dallas, Texas in 1963.
Vic Morrow was an actor whose head didn't just catch on fire -- it was lopped off.
Vic Morrow, from his last film, "Twilight Zone: The Movie"
Morrow was filming a scene for John Landis' "Twilight Zone: The Movie" at a park in California, a scene in which he was to traverse a shallow body of water with two small children tucked beneath his arms.
The scene was supposed to take place in Vietnam, with Morrow trying to save the children from gunfire and bombs.
Only, another pyrotechnic accident caused a helicopter, which was flying dangerously low to the actor and kids, to spin out of control and crash into the water.
The blades of the copter decapitated Morrow and one of the children, who was seven years old. The other child, a six-year-old, wasn't beheaded but died also.
But this grisly accident, which spawned criminal charges and lawsuits, didn't get filed under "graphic" and "disturbing" until bootlegged footage popped up on the Internet a couple years ago.
It's grainy and from a distance, but you can indeed see the helicopter crashing down, and with it, the blades slamming down onto Morrow and the children.
No, you don't see heads flying off their torsos. But it's real enough to make you squirm, since you already know the result of the accident, which occurred 27 years ago next week.
Had you not known that Morrow and the one child were decapitated, the footage would have lost a lot of its shock value. But since you know that before you view it, your imagination fills in the blanks.
Had THAT video been unearthed by US magazine, as the Jackson/fire footage was yesterday, then you'd have a case for the over-the-top warning issued by the young lady introducing the Jackson clip.
Morrow had finished most of his scenes for his part of Landis' movie, so Vic's appearance in the film, after everyone knew his fate, added to the accident's notoriety.
By the way, did you know that Morrow is the father of actress Jennifer Jason Leigh? I didn't, until a year or two ago.
TV news has become the boy who cried wolf, among other things.
When I was growing up, if a television program was interrupted with a film slide that said "Breaking News", accompanied by a booming male voice that said, "We interrupt this program...", well, you'd almost soil your undies.
For this wasn't something taken lightly. If the networks broke into "Laugh-In" or "All in the Family", then it was a news story of the highest order. The HIGHEST order.
Your tummy would do flip-flops and the hair on the back of your neck would stand on end if such an interruption occurred.
Now?
"Breaking news" is used so much, the term has completely lost its meaning. I won't go into a litany of examples, but the "news" that is breaking is the video equivalent of something tucked away on page 8A of the local newspaper.
Yet the TV folks keep using "breaking news", which, anymore, creates the same sense of urgency as someone's car alarm going off.
The Michael Jackson footage of his hair briefly catching fire was child's play.
The Vic Morrow footage, which you can view by clicking HERE -- now THAT was something to warn people about.
Back to you...
"The video you're about to see is graphic, and some might find it disturbing."
Not so much a warning as an intonement by the news people for you not to turn the channel.
Anyhow, the "graphic" and "disturbing" video to which she was referring was never-before-seen footage (another great TV term to suck you in) of Michael Jackson's Pepsi Cola accident while filming a commercial for the soft drink in 1984. The one where his hair catches fire -- very briefly.
The footage was aired, and it hardly was befitting of the warning that accompanied it.
A pyrotechnic explosion brightens the screen, then we see Jackson, from behind, beginning to dance down a staircase. A wisp of flame appears on top of his head, which grows to a small bonfire just as crew members rush to him and put his hair out. The whole incident takes up maybe 8-10 seconds of screen time.
Not graphic. Not even that disturbing. It's not like Jackson died because of the accident, after all.
Maybe the young female anchor has never heard of the Zapruder film? Or Vic Morrow, if you're going to go the entertainment route?
Now THERE'S some graphic and disturbing footage, lady.
The Zapruder film is, of course, the visual recording of President Kennedy's last moments alive in Dallas, Texas in 1963.
Vic Morrow was an actor whose head didn't just catch on fire -- it was lopped off.
Vic Morrow, from his last film, "Twilight Zone: The Movie"
Morrow was filming a scene for John Landis' "Twilight Zone: The Movie" at a park in California, a scene in which he was to traverse a shallow body of water with two small children tucked beneath his arms.
The scene was supposed to take place in Vietnam, with Morrow trying to save the children from gunfire and bombs.
Only, another pyrotechnic accident caused a helicopter, which was flying dangerously low to the actor and kids, to spin out of control and crash into the water.
The blades of the copter decapitated Morrow and one of the children, who was seven years old. The other child, a six-year-old, wasn't beheaded but died also.
But this grisly accident, which spawned criminal charges and lawsuits, didn't get filed under "graphic" and "disturbing" until bootlegged footage popped up on the Internet a couple years ago.
It's grainy and from a distance, but you can indeed see the helicopter crashing down, and with it, the blades slamming down onto Morrow and the children.
No, you don't see heads flying off their torsos. But it's real enough to make you squirm, since you already know the result of the accident, which occurred 27 years ago next week.
Had you not known that Morrow and the one child were decapitated, the footage would have lost a lot of its shock value. But since you know that before you view it, your imagination fills in the blanks.
Had THAT video been unearthed by US magazine, as the Jackson/fire footage was yesterday, then you'd have a case for the over-the-top warning issued by the young lady introducing the Jackson clip.
Morrow had finished most of his scenes for his part of Landis' movie, so Vic's appearance in the film, after everyone knew his fate, added to the accident's notoriety.
By the way, did you know that Morrow is the father of actress Jennifer Jason Leigh? I didn't, until a year or two ago.
TV news has become the boy who cried wolf, among other things.
When I was growing up, if a television program was interrupted with a film slide that said "Breaking News", accompanied by a booming male voice that said, "We interrupt this program...", well, you'd almost soil your undies.
For this wasn't something taken lightly. If the networks broke into "Laugh-In" or "All in the Family", then it was a news story of the highest order. The HIGHEST order.
Your tummy would do flip-flops and the hair on the back of your neck would stand on end if such an interruption occurred.
Now?
"Breaking news" is used so much, the term has completely lost its meaning. I won't go into a litany of examples, but the "news" that is breaking is the video equivalent of something tucked away on page 8A of the local newspaper.
Yet the TV folks keep using "breaking news", which, anymore, creates the same sense of urgency as someone's car alarm going off.
The Michael Jackson footage of his hair briefly catching fire was child's play.
The Vic Morrow footage, which you can view by clicking HERE -- now THAT was something to warn people about.
Back to you...
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