La tele tóxica

MONTSERRAT DOMÍNGUEZ
Diario adn, 27 de noviembre de 2007

Es sencillo y barato: colocas a los niños frente al televisor y así les tienes boquiabiertos y alienados durante horas. Empiezas por reírte cuando recitan los anuncios de memoria y acabas adecuando el horario de comidas del fin de semana para que encaje entre Los Simpson y Pressing Catch. Antes de que te des cuenta, el gran acontecimiento familiar, el único momento de conexión entre padres e hijos, es disfrutar juntos de un programa.

Dice Sofres que los menores ven una media de 140 minutos de televisión diarios: dos horas y veinte minutos. ¿Y qué narices ven?, me pregunto, porque apenas hay contenidos adecuados para ellos, y estarán conmigo en que el llamado horario de protección especial es un hermoso eufemismo. Los únicos espacios realmente infantiles son los publicitarios: ellos sí que saben captar la atención de los peques, y más en vísperas de Reyes. Los niños españoles duermen poco y engordan mucho a causa de la tele, pero peor que el colesterol es la sucesión de imágenes banales o violentas que invaden su mente y matan su energía, su creatividad, su curiosidad innata y ese enorme talento que tienen para disfrutar de la vida real.


El Gobierno se reúne esta semana con los directivos de televisión para pedirles más autorregulación, tras la antesala de un crimen que se fraguó en un talk-show. Dudo de que sirva para mucho, pero lo que desde luego no espero ni de la vicepresidenta ni de las cadenas es que eduquen a mis hijos. Enseñarles a usar el mando, y sobre todo el botón de OFF, es cosa mía.♦

Blade Runner's 25th Anniversary

Blade Runner is a 1982 cyberpunk, neo-noir film directed by Ridley Scott, from a screenplay written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples, loosely based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick, starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, Daryl Hannah and Joanna Cassidy.

The film depicts a dystopian Los Angeles in November 2019 in which genetically manufactured beings called replicants, visually indistinguishable from adult humans, are used for dangerous and degrading work in Earth's "off-world colonies". After replicants became illegal on Earth, specialist police units — called "blade runners" — were trained to hunt down and "retire" (kill) escaped replicants on Earth. The plot focuses on a brutal and cunning group of replicants hiding in Los Angeles and a semi-retired blade runner, Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), who reluctantly agrees to take on one more assignment.

This futuristic adventure initially polarized critics; some were displeased with the pacing, while others enjoyed its thematic complexity. The film performed poorly in North American theaters but achieved success overseas, mostly in Spain, where it was first released in August 1982. Despite poor early ticket sales, it has since become a cult classic. Blade Runner has been hailed for its production design, one said to depict a "retrofitted future". The film is credited with prefiguring important concerns of the 21st century, such as globalization and genetic engineering. It remains a leading example of the cyberpunk and neo-noir genres. Blade Runner brought author Philip K. Dick to the attention of Hollywood and a number of films have since been made from his writings. Ridley Scott regards Blade Runner as his "most complete and personal film". In 2007, the American Film Institute listed it as the 97th greatest movie of all time.

Warner Bros. announced in January 2006 the upcoming 25th anniversary release in 2007 of the long-awaited remastered definitive Final Cut by Scott, opening at the Avenida Cinema in Seville on November 16th. Showing only until Nov. 29th!

WOULD YOU LIKE TO JOIN US AT THE AVENIDA CINEMA TO SEE IT IN THE ORIGINAL VERSION WITH SPANISH SUBTITLES? We will be going on WEDNESDAY 28, at 8.10pm and we will meet at 7.45pm outside the cinema. €4,50

A F R I C A

In Electricity-Starved Guinea, Children Study Under Airport Lights
Young Guineans study under the dim parking lot lights at G'bessi Airport in Conakry, Guinea Wednesday, June 6, 2007. Only about a fifth of Guinea's 10 million people have access to electricity and even those that do, experience frequent power cuts. With few families able to afford generators, students long ago discovered that the airport is one of the few places where the lights never go out. This photo by Rebecca Blackwell (Associated Press) speaks volumes.