Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!seismo!hao!hplabs!sri-unix!vortex!lauren@LBL-CSAM
From: lauren@LBL-CSAM@vortex.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: "Wargames"
Message-ID: <4036@sri-arpa.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 9-Aug-83 06:18:45 EDT
Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.4036
Posted: Tue Aug  9 06:18:45 1983
Date-Received: Fri, 12-Aug-83 11:39:09 EDT
Lines: 30

From:  Lauren Weinstein <vortex!lauren@LBL-CSAM>

I've never claimed that there aren't (or haven't been) other
films that have "misrepresented" reality in a manner that would
confuse some percentage of the audience.  However, if some dummies
want to panic over "Jaws", that's of little real import.
However, when a film plays this same game (no pun intended)
with a subject matter of vital importance to all of us (nuclear war) 
and also with a subject matter with which I am professionally involved 
(computers) then I reserve my right to yell "foul".  Nobody is
forced to agree with me.

--Lauren--

P.S.  There have been movies that fell into the "misrepresentation"
class but still served a potentially good purpose.  
"Towering Inferno" and "Earthquake", for example, though both
unrealistic in many important respects, did show some pretty
clear rules for how to deal with certain situations.  For example,
in "Earthquake", it was made obvious that you shouldn't run
out of a building during a quake (you may be hit by falling
debris) and that trying to ride an elevator down during a quake
is a really bad idea.  Yes, the sort of elevator failure shown
probably couldn't happen, but the safety concept is valid in any case.
"Wargames" didn't give us any rules or suggestions for dealing
with the "real life" situations with which it was dealing.  If anything,
it promoted various illegal activities and made a hero out of
the culprit.

--LW--