A Toxic Avenger movie poster. If you’re interested in learning more about the movie, here’s a link to its imdb abstract: http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0017860/
An anti-nuclear power billboard illustration that spoofs romance novel covers, in which our heroine has three breasts and our hero has a foot for a hand. (It’s called, of course “Mutated Love.”)
A political demonstration itinerary that includes the line, “Tether pig to podium by 11:30 a.m.”
Larry the Space Cat.
Folders full of materials about Leslie Nielsen.
The Safe Energy Communication Council (papers at Temple University Special Collections) was involved in the writing and production of Naked Gun 2 ½: The Smell of Fear, which had an anti-nuclear, pro-clean energy message mixed in with all of its slapstick and puns. The campaign files about the movie include correspondence between the movie’s director, Steve Steveman, and SECC Executive Director, Scott Denman. The SECC was even thanked in the closing credits of the film.
For your viewing enjoyment, here’s a clip from Naked Gun 2 1/2: http://www.youtube.com/embed/dtSYbGKv7v4
Of course, everyone at SECC was incredibly excited about this. Scott Denman’s handwritten notes about Naked Gun 2 1/2 from board of directors meetings include multiple underlinings and exclamation points. The SECC sent out invitations to a private screening of the movie to politicians, both pro- and anti-nuclear energy, with a “highly energy efficient and renewable” party at the National Museum of Natural History afterward. Oddly enough, the pro-nuclear power politicians seem to have mostly declined the invitation. The SECC also sent copies of the movie to politicians (perhaps those who couldn’t make it to the screening), some of whose replies are in the Naked Gun files. A few replied by indicating that they do not accept these kinds of gifts, while others reported that they found the movie both hilarious and informative.
When I started drafting this blog post, there was a paragraph here about how nuclear energy wasn’t at the forefront of anyone’s mind anymore and hey, isn’t it weird how this 90’s paranoia about nuclear power has gone away? But on March 11th, an earthquake, tsunami, and series of powerful aftershocks happened on the other side of the globe. The earthquake and its aftereffects have damaged several nuclear reactors and thus brought the risks of nuclear power back into the American consciousness. Once again we’re seeing discussions of nuclear power similar to the ones present in SECC media campaigns, in which nuclear energy is depicted not with scientific detachment, but with emotional rhetorical appeals. For all the science that’s present in the SECC papers (and it is there), most of the media campaigns and published material use emotional rhetoric, like the pictures of injured and dead animals in their Licensed to Kill publication. This was a smart and successful attempt to appeal to the average Joe, who wouldn’t have or want the knowledge required to understand the technical aspects of nuclear power.
One of the interesting aspects of the debate about the safety of nuclear power happening on the internet is the availability of information from both anti- and pro-nuclear power camps. It’s not uncommon to read online articles or blog posts arguing for for or against nuclear energy, and to see someone supporting the opposing case in the comments or in a rebuttal that links back to the original piece. Perhaps this availability of information will prevent public opinion from becoming as strongly anti-nuclear power as it was in 1991, when these discussions that created a culture in which nuclear weapons and power were so obviously evil that they could be involved in the evil machinations of a bad guy in a slapstick comedy movie.
