|
|
|
 |
Excerpt from an Interview with Kenn Viselman Chairman, Itsy Bitsy Entertainment Co. featured in Dad's Magazine premiere issue.
DM: I have to start with this quote: "One thing is evident, there is too much violence and negative imagery in the world. Parents are becoming increasingly concerned about their children's early development and the impact of violent content in their children's television programming. As a result, caregivers are searching for recreation that is free of the negative imagery, which is inexcusably, become an acceptable form of entertainment in our society. We believe there should be alternatives for young children." How do you comment on that?
|
KV: I wrote it. That's funny...I think it's brilliant piece of work! I wrote that prior to this company in March of 1995. I sat down, trying to have an understanding of why I was doing this. Because I think that if you don't have a reason, don't do it. I really look at the world around us and what was going on their and its extraordinary that I have changed everything that we've done. Every month I change. So what I said now and what I said then is exactly the same thing. I don't think that there is enough attention placed on what children are watching. Even with all the violence that's going on in our school systems and around the globe today we still don't understand the impact of violence on children and they way the children perceive the universe around them. The only thing that has changed in my rhetoric if it is rhetoric, is that Children live in the same universe we do; they just perceive it differently from adults. We don't really understand what that impact is. For me, what I wanted to do is to give caregivers a choice. I think the way that companies like Disney and some of the other giants market their products; they market more directly at children instead of the caregiver. They make the caregiver feel wrong and the children feel inadequate if they don't have those products. I don't believe in that. I think that what we are supposed to do is, what responsible people in the entertainment industry should be doing is giving caregivers a choice. If the caregiver says that they want their preschooler to watch TV then give them a program that's age appropriate. So then the caregiver can then choose whether to give the child something age appropriate or not. It's the reason why I agreed to do The Teletubbies. Prior to that show there was never a show for children that were this age that would be age appropriate for them. Some kids, in some instances were watching really good programming like Sesame Street or Barney, but those shows were not designed for the youngest television viewer. At the time they were designed, they were developed age appropriately for the youngest viewer. But not today. The youngest television viewers today vary. For me the reason that we exist is simply about giving caregivers choices and giving them the opportunity to raise the children the way they deem best.
DM: I don't necessarily know that what the children are seeing is the result of violent action. All I know from what I see first hand, is that my daughter responds completely differently than my son does. Because boys are boys and he plays with trucks and she plays dolls. He's more prone to want a sword and even though we have a policy of not having guns in the house he'll get a toilet paper roll and make it into a gun
KV: Does he watch Warrior Princess or Hercules on TV?
DM: No, he doesn't.
KV: I don't mean to pick you out, I think that children pick up from their universe. I don't think that were really sensitive enough to some of those things like how violent just the news is. How children will perceive just that thing. There was a study done recently and it said that any preschooler in America, that one of their top three favorite children's shows is The Jerry Springer Show. What is going on is children are making up a huge portion of his audience. The caregiver was home; they would turn on the TV show and not realizing the impact it had on the children watching it. I think that is horrifying. I think there is a difference in the play pattern of boys and girls. I also think that we encourage boys to be more competitive than we encourage girls to be. The reason that I do some of the products that I do is to try and break down some of the stereotypes. So girls can be what ever they want to be. If a boy wants to play with a doll then great, groovy, it doesn't mean he's going to grow up to be anything more or less than anybody else is.
DM: I also read in some of your materials that James and the Giant Peach kills the parents off in the first few minutes. Why should small children have to deal with that? You also say just because someone is killed in Pocahantas by a bow and arrow and not a gun, doesn't make the violence OK.
KV: I still feel that there's plenty of time in a child's life to learn about death. I don't think that that means they have to learn about it in their preschool years.
DM: I have another problem with television, which is prime time television.
KV: I have a huge problem with prime time television. It is appalling to me what's happening in prime time television. It's my next crusade now. You know what I would like to be known for when I'm dead? I saw there was a problem and I did what I could to change it...
|
|
. |
home