click! (aif file will open in WMP)
Posted on 07/06/2006 7:13:58 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
Believes 'Cars' Gives Kids The Wrong Message About Racing Trains
(CBS) -- Is Disney's hit movie "Cars" spinning its wheels when it comes to safety?
CBS 2 West Suburban Bureau Chief Mike Puccinelli reports on the fight to put the brakes on a scene in the blockbuster animated picture about a fast talking rookie racer named Lightning McQueen.
"As I'm sitting there, I couldn't believe it because this is a red car. My daughter was killed in a red car," said Lanny Wilson with the DuPage Railroad Safety Council.
His 14-year-old daughter, Lauren, was killed in a collision 12 years ago when her brother chose to race a train and lost. It was a split-second decision that forever changed his family.
"I don't want this kind of nightmare, this kind of tragedy to happen to other families, especially if we can do something to prevent it," Wilson said.
He believes editing out the train race scene from the DVD version of the film will prevent from other young people from making fatal, split-second decisions.
The president of the Illinois State Medical Society agrees and wants the scene cut from future versions of the film.
"You give children that kind of a message: It cool, it is good to try to go and beat a train. It is the wrong message," Dr. Peter Eupierre said.
In a statement, Disney officials say: "Lightning McQueen's poor judgment in outrunning the train reveals his reckless and thoughtless behavior and is certainly not glorified."
Officials won't say if they're considering editing out the controversial scene.
Until they do, Wilson vows to continue to fight in Lauren's name.
"You never get over it. You just cope and try to go on," he said.
No, but you can stop making a public spectacle of yourself. Your "defense" would also apply to Cindy Sheehan.
I'm amazed I even have to say that.
And I'm amazed that a FReeper would buy into this "Woe is me" bilge. This isn't about anyone's child; it's an attention whore trying to parley a tragedy into permanent importance.
Over a cartoon movie, no less ...
Spare me the karmic forewarning. If such a tragedy should ever befall me -- and several of similar nature HAVE -- I would hope that I would handle it with a trifle more dignity.
***Speaking of "small details", you got yours wrong -- "his kid", the dead one, wasn't driving the car, she was a passenger.***
....With her brother driving.
Let me set the record straight: When I posted "Get over it," I meant "Get over the public grief, the 'poor me,' center-of-attention that a grieving parent becomes in the wake of such a tragedy." I didn't mean stop mourning your child, or get over the fact that she's gone. I meant stop playing the martyr and waving the child's bloody robe to attract attention to yourself.
Does anyone SERIOUSLY believe that this guy has any right to pressure Disney to remove a scene just because it reminds him of a personal tragedy???? Talk about an inflated sense of Self!
Cars racing across oncoming trains have been a staple of the movie industry since its inception. If we're going to start editing out these kinds of scenes, we better bring a lot of scissors.
What about Little Mermaid and Finding Nemo and Shark Tale -- kids have been killed by Sharks, shouldn't all menacing scenes of shark attacks be removed from those movies as well?
Kewl! I thought I was an only child.
Hi Bro!
You just said that "they themselves emulate violence and dangerous or precarious situations." which is the whole point.
My point, though, was that since kids don't actually drive cars, there really shouldn't be too much of a worry of them trying to do what the cars do in the movie.
And nothing they see and hear now will affect them later?
The fear seems to be that children are going to mimic what they see in the movie by actually trying to beat trains in races on railroad tracks. I'm wondering what the children are doing at railroad tracks unattended in the first place.
That was never a point in the article.
To me it seemed like a "double-issue"...meaning that he was concerned about two things at once: the safety of others, and his own personal grief. Here's his quote from the article: "As I'm sitting there, I couldn't believe it because this is a red car. My daughter was killed in a red car,"...what does it being a RED car have to do with anything?
It was a great irony for him. Btw, we have a chief of police in the extended family. Guess what color of car is considered the most dangerous by PDs? And he says that statistics bear that out.
Real cars don't talk. I'm tired of activists who constantly deny any awareness of the off button or personal responsibility.
Watching the Shrek bloopers leads me to believe you are wrong... they had a bunch of computer animation errors in the outtakes.
"The Dukes of Hazzard" was a sacred hour in our house, topped only by "Monday Night Football."
Oh, how I wanted a car with doors welded shut.
Then I grew up a little and started wearing skirts and realized the impracticability of my dream.
You are such a hater. ;)
Ah. Thanks for the clarification.
Then perhaps the adults, who inarguably have more control over the kids than Disney does, should teach the kids correctly.
Don't make a parenting issue a "social" one.
"More than 5,000 collisions occur at these intersections (grade crossings) each year, resulting in almost 600 fatalities and 1,800 injuries. A motor vehicle/train collision is many times more likely to produce fatalities than a roadway collision."
That's exactly right. And you pointed out in your other post that they emulate danger and violence. But somewhere between grade school and drivers ed, common sense kicks in? Do you mean that we all don't see idiots talking on cell phones while driving? Couple of weeks back, an idiot in a dump truck tried beating a train. He killed his passenger too. The train engineer said that you remember their faces in your dreams for the rest of your life. People DO try to beat trains. The train always wins.
If only Lanny Wilson were troubled by the word 'God' on our currency or in the pledge of allegiance - then he could get a judge to issue a command on his behalf. Alas - I don't think the judges will come to his aid. And yet, he's got such a strong and compelling argument. Is there no justice in this nation?
Right on, Jack.
My clue was that he took personally the fact that Lightning McQueen was a RED car! How self-centered! If LMQ had been gold or something he could have raced the train??
click! (aif file will open in WMP)
Surely you're entitled to something for the pain and suffering of driving an AMC Pacer...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.