DOCSLIB.ORG

Bosses, Workers, Courts, and Labor Arbitrators

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Bosses, Workers, Courts, and Labor Arbitrators Missouri Law Review Volume 57 Issue 1 Winter 1992 Article 7 Winter 1992 Procrustean Beds and Draconian Choices: Lifestyle Regulations and Officious Intermeddlers--Bosses,ork W ers, Courts, and Labor Arbitrators Marvin Hill Jr. Emily Delacenserie Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/mlr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Marvin Hill Jr. and Emily Delacenserie, Procrustean Beds and Draconian Choices: Lifestyle Regulations and Officious Intermeddlers--Bosses,ork W ers, Courts, and Labor Arbitrators, 57 MO. L. REV. (1992) Available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/mlr/vol57/iss1/7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at University of Missouri School of Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Missouri Law Review by an authorized editor of University of Missouri School of Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Hill and Delacenserie: Hill: Procrustean Beds and Draconian Choices Procrustean Beds and Draconian Choices: Lifestyle Regulations and Officious Intermeddlers-Bosses, Workers, Courts, and Labor Arbitrators Marvin Hill, Jr.° Emily Delacenserie'" I. INTRODUCTION In Greenburgh, New York, Paul Solomon, once a popular sixth-grade teacher, faces possible dismissal for his role in the "Fatal Attraction" case involving the shooting death of his wife, Betty Jeanne Solomon. Mr. Solomon, who was granted immunity from prosecution, admitted in open court to having numerous extramarital affairs, including an affair with a fellow teacher, Carolyn Warmus. She is currently facing a second trial after a hung jury in her first trial for the killing of Mrs. Solomon. Leon Leighton, an 88- year-old lawyer who has lived in the community for 47 years, has sent a letter to 100 citizens asking them to press the school board for Solomon's dismissal. Leighton is quoted in the New York Times to have said that "what he has done is immoral" and returning Solomon to the classroom would be "an unforgiv- able outrage to the integrity of our school system and a body blow to our property values."' Others have echoed similar concerns with Solomon's ability to function as a role model for students. 2 * Professor of Labor and Industrial Relations, College of Business Administration and Adjunct Professor of Law, College of Law, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois. J.D. & Ph.D., University of Iowa. A member of the National Academy of Arbitrators, Hill is actively engaged in arbitration in the public and private sectors. Hill has co-authored (with Anthony V. Sinicropi) three books: Management Rights: A Legal and ArbitralAnalysis (BNA, 1986), Remedies in Arbitration (BNA, 1991), and Evidence in Arbitration (BNA, 1987). ** J.D., (candidate) College of Law, Northern Illinois University. Copyright, 1991. Marvin F. Hill, Jr. and Emily Delacenserie. All rights reserved. The authors wish to thank James Wright, an associate in the law firm of Sutkowski & Washkuhn, Ltd., Peoria, Illinois, for his comments on an earlier draft of this article. His work was beyond the call. 1. Some Ask if Husband in Love-Triangle Case Is Fit to Teach, N.Y. TIMES, August 17, 1991, § 1, at 23, Col. 2. 2. Nadine Brozan,A Post-TrialQuestion: ShouldAdultererTeach?, N.Y. TIMEs, Aug. 17, 1991, at 23. In September, 1991, Paul Solomon was denied classroom duties Published by University of Missouri School of Law Scholarship Repository, 1992 1 MISSOURIMissouri LAW Law Review, REVIEW Vol. 57, Iss. 1 [1992], Art. 7 [Vol. 57 What should the board of education do? Even more interesting, what can the board do in response to the citizens' desiring to terminate the contract of Mr. Solomon? Would it be constitutional for Paul Solomon to be held to a higher standard of behavior than other employees of the district (the janitor, for example)? To what extent can private and public-sector employers regulate or control, under threat of discipline or discharge, an employee's personal off-duty lifestyle? Can management withhold a benefit or promotion because of the employee's unhealthy or bizarre lifestyle? Aside from the educational environment, examples where both private- and public-sector management concerns itself with the employee's lifestyle, or the results of that lifestyle, are numerous: In the air, American Airlines, similar to United, Delta, and Continental, promulgated weight standards for flight attendants. American, like most airlines, does not want "fat" flight attendants. Those who do not tip the scales at the right numbers according to height and weight tables are placed on leave. If weight is not made within a designated period, dismissal follows. 3 In Cranston, Rhode Island a hospital attendant is refused employment with her former employer, the State of Rhode Island, because at 315 pounds she is considered fat. Management believes that its workers' compensation costs might rise if it rehired her.4 A bus driver, who received extensive publicity for his off-duty activities as Acting Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, is discharged for his "political" activities. Management rejects outright the employee's constitutional 5 arguments relating to free speech and association. The Omaha Girls Club dismisses an unmarried staff member because she conceived a child out of wedlock. According to management, her condition made her a negative role model to the children and, thus, unsuitable for 6 continued employment. Concluding that management had to take steps to help contain medical costs and that "there are certain lifestyle decisions that we are just not going to assure the results of,"7 the Circle K Corporation, the nation's second- although he still draws full pay. Warmus, free on $250,000 bond, faces an additional charge of having forged a defense exhibit in the first trial. 3. In The Air, A New Battle Over Weight, N.Y. TIMES, Apr. 2, 1990, at A-12. 4. The Providence chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Lynette Labinger, of counsel, has filed a lawsuit against the State of Rhode Island in The United States District Court of Rhode Island. See Cook v. State of Rhode Island, Dep't of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals, C.A. No. 90-0560-T (D. R.I. 1991). 5. Baltimore Transit Co., 47 Lab. Arb. Rep. (BNA) 62 (1966) (Duff, Arb.). 6. Chambers'v. Omaha Girls Club, Inc., 834 F.2d 697 (8th Cir. 1987). 7. Kenneth B. Noble, Company Halting Health Plan On Some "Life Style" Illnesses, N.Y. TIMES, Aug. 6, 1988, at Al. https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/mlr/vol57/iss1/7 2 1992] LIFESTYLE REGULATIONS-EMPLOYMENTHill and Delacenserie: Hill: Procrustean Beds LAW and Draconian Choices53 largest convenience store chain, announced that it would terminate the medical coverage of "employees who become sick or injured as a result of AIDS, alcohol, drug abuse or self-inflicted wounds."8 The Walt Disney Company, in the midst of hiring some 12,000 employees to maintain and populate its Euro Disneyland theme park in Mame- la-Vallee, 20 miles east of Paris, has spelled out a dress and appearance code that goes beyond height and weight requirements. The rules mandate strict guidelines on the length of men's hair, and prohibit facial hair and the display of tatoos. Women's hair must be one natural color, and women can use only limited amounts of makeup. Further, the length of women's fingernails is restricted and false eyelashes and other eye makeup is completely disallowed: As for jewelry, women can wear only one earring in each ear with the earring's diameter no more than 2 centimeters.... Neither men nor women can wear more than one ring on each hand. Further, women are required to wear "appropriate undergarments" and 9 only transparent pantyhose, not black or anything with fancy designs. Although a daily bath is not mentioned in the rules, employees are expected to appear for work "fresh and clean."' ° Similar rules are in force at Disney's three other theme parks. The French Government has lodged a formal complaint against Disney." An executive is dismissed because he was accompanied by someone other than his spouse at a convention. The executive argues that nothing less than a public policy is at issue and that management should not be allowed to effect a dismissal simply because his lifestyle is different than that of his superiors.'" Other examples include the Turner Broadcasting System, who will not consider an employee for employment if he is a smoker. 3 At U-Haul International, workers who smoke or are underweight or overweight pay for their health insurance. 8. Id. 9. A Disney Dress Code Chafes in the Land of Haute Couture, N.Y. TIMES, Dec. 25, 1991, at Al. 10. Id. 11. Id. 12. Staats v. Ohio Nat'l Life Ins. Co., 620 F. Supp 118 (W.D. Pa. 1985) (upholding dismissal and rejecting public policy argument). 13. J. Ellison, Busybodies: New Puritans, TIME, Aug. 12, 1991, at 20; cf Grusendorf v. City of Oklahoma City, 816 F.2d 539 (10th Cir. 1987). Grusendorfis discussed at infra note 74 and accompanying text. Published by University of Missouri School of Law Scholarship Repository, 1992 3 MISSOURIMissouri Law LAW Review, REVIEW Vol. 57, Iss. 1 [1992], Art. 7 [Vol. 57 A. Focus of Article Is there a remedy at law for any of these employees, including the Mr. Solomons of the world, if management elects to effect a dismissal because the employee does not fit in the company's procrustean bed? 4 What are the limits of management's power to regulate the individual lifestyles of employees, even when those lifestyles have little or no relation
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Profiling a Unique Female Serial Killer: Aileen Wuornos's Life of Violence
    Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence Volume 6 Issue 3 Article 2 5-2021 Profiling a Unique emaleF Serial Killer: Aileen Wuornos's Life of Violence Phyllis Chesler Phyllis Chesler Organization Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/dignity Part of the Applied Behavior Analysis Commons, Clinical Psychology Commons, Domestic and Intimate Partner Violence Commons, Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, Health Psychology Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance Commons, Social Justice Commons, Social Welfare Commons, and the Social Work Commons Recommended Citation Chesler, Phyllis (2021) "Profiling a Unique Female Serial Killer: Aileen Wuornos's Life of Violence," Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence: Vol. 6: Iss. 3, Article 2. DOI: 10.23860/dignity.2021.06.03.02 Available at: https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/dignity/vol6/iss3/2https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/dignity/ vol6/iss3/2 This Research and Scholarly Article is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@URI. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@URI. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Profiling a Unique emaleF Serial Killer: Aileen Wuornos's Life of Violence Keywords serial killer, female serial killer, Aileen Wuornos, prostitution, motive for murder, traumatic child abuse, violence Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. Acknowledgements The author thanks Dr. Lenore Walker and Dr. David Shapiro, both at the College of Psychology, Nova Southeastern University, Florida, for their interest in this work and for their encouragement.
    [Show full text]
  • Bombing Raids Continue; GULF WAR ROUNDUP Sunday, Feb
    . VOL. XXIII NO. 90 MONDAY , FEBRUARY 11, 1991 I . THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING NOTRE DAME AND SAINT MARY'S : Bombing raids continue; GULF WAR ROUNDUP sunday, Feb. 10 Cheney, Powell visit While flying back to Washington, Diplomatic front U.S. ponders ground war Defense Secretary Dick Cheney told •Iraq rejected I>IIAIIHAN. Saudi Arabia (AP) planes flew 2,800 missions reporters the air campaign had reduced the two new peace - As allied pilots bombed Iraqi Sunday, concentrating on He­ fighting power of some Iraqi divisions by plans by Iran and the troops and their supply lines publican Guard troops on the as much as non-alingned movement. Sunday, a senior American lraqi-Kuwaiti border and the 40 percent.....•. ·····.···r.. u·R·K-E .. Y···· ·-•. : ...• __ ,....._,_. •A Soviet envoy traveled to military official said the U.S.­ bridges, highways and railways . Y Baghdad for talks with led forees could use another used to supply them. ~:--~;;i;--··r:" ..... ~ ... ~addam Huss_e_in_.-___,,--.......,J thrne to four weeks to prepare ~~·/:.S .. , {~ for a ground offensive. The fierce action in the air, LEBANON ,/lf~_./···r 0 Defense Secretary Dick Ch­ and sporadic exchanges of ar­ ISRAEL __,.1 · .. · ·- Baghdad eney, meanwhile, said the next tillery along the Saudi border, .. -h. f"'-1 \ IRAQ phase of the Persian Gulf War came as Cheney headed back to _.-; , ·· -·.JORDAN would probably combine air OPERATION Washington to brief President power with both ground and DESERT STORM Bush on the progress of the 25- I ,, amphibious combat. But he day-old war. would not say how soon it He told reporters flying home I ~ Allied air war might begin.
    [Show full text]
  • 2012 Hanne-Blank-Straight.Pdf
    STRAIGHT THE SURPRISINGLY SHORT HISTORY OF HETEROSEXUALITY HANNE BLANK Beacon Press · Boston 2 For Malcolm 3 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Sexual Disorientation CHAPTER ONE The Love That Could Not Speak Its Name CHAPTER TWO Carnal Knowledge CHAPTER THREE Straight Science CHAPTER FOUR The Marrying Type CHAPTER FIVE What’s Love Got to Do with It? CHAPTER SIX The Pleasure Principle CHAPTER SEVEN Here There Be Dragons ACKNOWLEDGMENTS NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX 4 INTRODUCTION Sexual Disorientation Every time I go to the doctor, I end up questioning my sexual orientation. On some of its forms, the clinic I visit includes five little boxes, a small matter of demographic bookkeeping. Next to the boxes are the options “gay,” “lesbian,” “bisexual,” “transgender,” or “heterosexual.” You’re supposed to check one. You might not think this would pose a difficulty. I am a fairly garden-variety female human being, after all, and I am in a long-term monogamous relationship, well into our second decade together, with someone who has male genitalia. But does this make us, or our relationship, straight? This turns out to be a good question, because there is more to my relationship—and much, much more to heterosexuality—than easily meets the eye. There’s biology, for one thing. My partner was diagnosed male at birth because he was born with, and indeed still has, a fully functioning penis. But, as the ancient Romans used to say, barba non facit philosophum—a beard does not make one a philosopher. Neither does having a genital outie necessarily make one male. Indeed, of the two sex chromosomes—XY—which would be found in the genes of a typical male, and XX, which is the hallmark of the genetically typical female—my partner’s DNA has all three: XXY, a pattern that is simultaneously male, female, and neither.
    [Show full text]
  • Hon. Nelson E. Canter Partner
    Hon. Nelson E. Canter Partner New York, NY [email protected] Phone: 212-448-1100 Fax: 212-448-0066 Judge Canter was elected to a four-year term as Town Justice for The Town of Harrison, NY from 2012 through 2015, and provides complex civil litigation services to the business community and insurance industry with a concentration on property subrogation for domestic and foreign insurance carriers. Judge Canter spearheaded and manages the firm’s national Insurance Subrogation Group. Judge Canter also provides outside general counsel services to corporations, suppliers, manufacturers and distributors for national litigation coordination, risk management and commercial litigation, transactional advice, intellectual property enforcement, and negotiation and preparation of licensing, manufacturing and distribution agreements. Judge Canter also engages in state and federal criminal defense and white-collar criminal investigations. Judge Canter has litigated large loss property subrogation and product liability cases throughout the United States and has led hundreds of complex origin and cause investigations involving fires and explosions, construction defects, building collapse, crane malfunctions, construction defects, heavy equipment failures, energy losses, turbine failures, fire suppression system failures, product liability and a wide range of complex commercial disputes. Judge Canter began his career in law enforcement as an Assistant District Attorney for the County of Westchester, New York, where he tried over 75 cases to verdict. Judge Canter coordinated extensive under-cover narcotics investigations and presented over 150 cases to Westchester County Grand Juries. In 1992, Judge Canter entered private practice and joined the late former Assistant United States Attorney William I. Aronwald in various high-profile criminal defense matters including People v.
    [Show full text]
  • History of Westchester County Bench And
    History of Westchester County Bench and Bar David L. Goodwin The Historical Society of the New York Courts Westchester County Legal History David L. Goodwin, Esq. I. County Origins 2 a. General Narrative 2 b. Legal Beginnings 6 c. Timeline 9 II. County Courthouses – From Past to Present 10 III. The Bench and the Bar 13 a. Judges 14 b. Attorneys and District Attorneys 36 c. Westchester County Bar Association 42 d. Women in Westchester 44 e. African Americans & LGBT Pioneers 47 f. Current Judiciary (2015) 48 IV. Cases and Trials of Note and Notoriety 49 V. County Resources 52 a. Bibliography 52 b. County Legal Records & Their Locations 53 c. County History Contacts 54 i. Historical Societies 54 ii. Other Local History Resources 57 iii. Municipal Historians 60 iv. Location of Records 65 1 12/03/2015 I. County Origins a. General Narrative Although European settlers had encountered the region on prior occasions, legend grants September 14, 1609, a day of particular reckoning in Westchester County history: the day Henry Hudson left anchorage at Spuyten Duyvil and traveled almost the entire Westchester shore.1 Others followed— especially from the Netherlands, whose traders took advantage of the rich flora and fauna of the land.2 Piece by piece, European explorers mapped and explored its features. For example, in 1614, Dutch explorer Adriaen Block became the first European mariner to enter the Long Island Sound.3 For a time, the Dutch West India Company maintained (on paper, at least) exclusive trade privileges on the shore of the Hudson.4 The first English vessel, meanwhile, arrived in 1619.5 Attempts to establish formal settlements in the region were slow in coming.
    [Show full text]
  • Looking Back in Crime What Happened on This Date in Criminal Justice History?
    Looking Back in Crime What Happened on This Date in Criminal Justice History? Looking Back in Crime What Happened on This Date in Criminal Justice History? James O. Windell Boca Raton London New York CRC Press is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group 6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300 Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742 © 2015 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business No claim to original U.S. Government works Version Date: 20150102 International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4987-0414-4 (eBook - PDF) This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The authors and publishers have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained. If any copyright material has not been acknowledged please write and let us know so we may rectify in any future reprint. Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmit- ted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers. For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please access www.copyright.
    [Show full text]
  • Women in Crime Ink: Guest Michael Streed Talks About Sketchcop
    11/26/2016 Women in Crime Ink: Guest Michael Streed talks about SketchCop 0 More Next Blog» Create Blog Sign In ABOUT WCI | FACEBOOK | KINDLE | WIKIPEDIA A B O U T U S T U E S D A Y , O C T O B E R 5 , 2 0 1 0 Guest Michael Streed talks about SketchCop "A blog worth reading" The Wall Street Journal by Andrea Campbell There is so much involved WRITING TODAY with being a forensic artist and it is a small community. Today we have an interview G U E S T C O N T R I B U T O R O R D E R B O O K S B Y W C I with Michael Streed, artist C O N T R I B U T O R S extraordinaire. Q.: Michael, thank you for being my interview guest. Can you tell WCI readers something about your background? Adobe Flash M.: I began my career as a Player is out of ‘street cop’ and retired 31 date. years later as “The SketchCop.” During that time, I worked several investigative assignments that helped me learn a lot about eyewitnesses. It also helped hone my interviewing skills. Shortly after becoming a police officer, I trained as a police composite artist with the WOMEN IN CRIME INK Los Angeles Police Department. My career as a forensic artist CONTRIBUTORS paralleled my work as a police officer and took me throughout the Search country to train with the best forensic artists of that era. I blended my forensic art training with college courses in life drawing and was H O L L Y H U G H E S Custom Search privileged to become trusted to work on some of the country’s worst cases including the torture murder of a DEA agent in Mexico, The C O D E A M B E R A L E R T Baton Rouge Serial Killer, The Samantha Runnion Abduction/Murder and the Anthony Martinez Abduction/Murder.
    [Show full text]
  • Village Voice
    THE FIXER: JOURNALIST. PRIVATE EYE. MOLE. SNITCH. IT’S ALL IN A DAY’S WORK FOR MARTY BERGMAN, THE ZELIG OF NEW YORK’S INFORMATION HIGHWAY The Village Voice William Bastone December 19, 1995 Long before Marty Bergman emerged as New York’s premier agent provocateur, a shadowy figure scrounging and hawking information with the verve of a street peddler, he exhibited a deep awareness of self. Employed as a lowly surveyor with the Department of Public Works in Suffolk County, Bergman knew that his true strength did not lie in the mundane task of tracking sewer lines and mapping municipal minutiae. Chatting one day in December 1980 with a local legislator, the voluble Bergman delivered an unusually succinct assessment of his secret virtue. Unaware that his companion was wearing a concealed recording device and saving his words for posterity, Bergman was blunt but not boastful: “You know,” he told the politician, “I know how to destroy people.” In the insular world inhabited by the city’s top politicians, journalists, investigators, and lawyers, Bergman is a singular presence. Equal part private eye, reporter, mole, media manipulator, and snitch, Bergman is the Zelig of New York’s power alleys, a six-foot- three-inch ghost in the machine wearing a trench coat and his trademark midnight shades. Powered by an extensive network of contacts, Bergman makes a living brokering--and sometimes selling--information. For him, it is as much an obsession as a profession: according to one acquaintance, nothing is more satisfying for Bergman than “finding dirt on people.” To that end, Bergman operates like a door-to-door salesman, offering documents, rumors, tips, and access to a client list that has included politicians, FBI agents, law firms, newspapers, and TV shows ranging from 60 Minutes to A Current Affair.
    [Show full text]
  • We Aren't Watching & Reading the Same Things Anymore Girl Scouts
    WESTCHESTER’S OLDEST AND MOST RESPECTED NEWSPAPERS Vol 109 Number 22 www.RisingMediaGroup.com Friday, May 31, 2019 As Cuomo Moves out of West: Welcome Back to Westchester? Thanks for the Tax Cap, Gov! Breen Opposes Early Parole Bill Gov. Andrew Cuomo with Bill and Hillary Clinton and Assemblyman David Buchwald, march- ing in the Memorial Day parade in New Castle. By Dan Murphy than a decade, said the reason for the sale is that The news earlier this month the Gov. An- his three daughters are either at college or living David Berkowitz, the “Son of Sam” killer, upon his arrest in Yonkers in 1976. drew Cuomo will be moving out of Westchester on their own. Lee will benefit from the sale, with gives us the chance the thank him for his lasting a listing price of $2.3 million, after purchasing it By Dan Murphy mates to be considered for release after they’ve legacy, and major accomplishment for homeown- in 2008 for $1.2 million. A bill in the State Legislature that would al- served 15 years in prison and reached age 55. The ers who live here in the highest-taxed county in The governor lived in Bedford for 10 years low inmates over the age of 55 to be considered state Board of Parole would be required to conduct the U.S. – the state-mandated property tax cap. before moving to New Castle, and the fact that he for early release from prison, including those a hearing to determine if an older inmate should be Cuomo, who has lived in New Castle, in a lived in our county was good for all our residents.
    [Show full text]
  • 1995-Television-Violence-Report-1.Pdf
    Table of Contents PART I. Introduction 5 A. Overview 5 B. Historical Background 6 PART II. The Study 16 A. Background 16 B. Independence 18 C. The Scope of the Monitoring 19 D. Methodology 23 1. Rationale and Definitions of Violence 23 2. The Monitoring Process 25 3. The Weekly Meetings 26 4. Criteria 27 E. Operating Premises and Stipulations 32 PART III. Findings in Broadcast Network Television 39 A. Prime Time Series 40 1. Programs with Frequent Issues 41 2. Programs with Occasional Issues 49 3. Interesting Violence Issues in Prime Time Series 54 4. Programs that Deal with Violence Well 58 B. Made for Television Movies and Mini-Series 61 1. Leading Examples of MOWs and Mini-Series that Raised Concerns 62 2. Other Titles Raising Concerns about Violence 67 3. Issues Raised by Made-for-Television Movies and Mini-Series 68 C. Theatrical Motion Pictures on Broadcast Network Television 71 1. Theatrical Films that Raise Concerns 74 2. Additional Theatrical Films that Raise Concerns 80 3. Issues Arising out of Theatrical Films on Television 81 D. On-Air Promotions, Previews, Recaps, Teasers and Advertisements 84 E. Children’s Television on the Broadcast Networks 94 PART IV. Findings in Other Television Media 102 A. Local Independent Television Programming and Syndication 104 B. Public Television 111 C. Cable Television 114 1. Home Box Office (HBO) 116 2. Showtime 119 3. The Disney Channel 123 4. Nickelodeon 124 5. Music Television (MTV) 125 6. TBS (The Atlanta Superstation) 126 7. The USA Network 129 8. Turner Network Television (TNT) 130 D.
    [Show full text]
  • She Just Snapped: Reality Television, Murder and the Myth Of
    SHE JUST SNAPPED: REALITY TELEVISION, MURDER AND THE MYTH OF FEMININE EVIL by Megan Tomei A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Florida Atlantic University Boca Raton, Florida August 2010 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This manuscript is dedicated to my family, particularly to my mother and boyfriend, Mike, for being supportive and patient with all my research. I appreciate all the help and suggestions they both offered throughout the entire process. I would also like to thank my committee members for their valuable feedback and encouragement. iii ABSTRACT Author: Megan Tomei Title: She Just Snapped: Reality Television, Murder and the Myth of Feminine Evil Institution: Florida Atlantic University Thesis Advisor: Dr. David C. Williams Degree: Master of Arts Year: 2010 Snapped, a documentary style show profiling female killers, is one of Oxygen’s longest running hit franchises. This thesis analyzes, through both the frames of feminist theory and rhetoric, the way the show perpetuates and plays upon the myth of feminine evil as well as the stereotype of women as weak, hysterical agents in need of control. Snapped showcases women who start out as seemingly normal but then enact horrendous crimes. The use of women that the audience can identify with but then later fear creates a cathartic experience in which female audience members can be vicariously cleansed of any dangerous animosity they may possess. The show portrays the many extreme examples as the norm for lethal female violence, but this disregards the fact that a majority of women killers act in self defense.
    [Show full text]
  • Copyrighted Material
    1 INTRODUCTION Fatal Attraction and Scarface Fig. 1.1 People Have Many Different Responses to Movies When Zero Dark Thirty opened in theaters in the United States in January 2013, it ignited a storm of controversy culminating with a serious threat of a congressional investigation empowered to summon the filmmakers to Capitol Hill to testify about the film! How could a fictional Hollywood film be of such interest or importance that members of Congress would launch an investigation? What was at stake? On the surface, the answer was easy. The film, which claimed to be based on a true story, is about the hunt for and eventual killing of Osama bin Laden following the Al Qaeda attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. The film included scenes of the CIA graphically torturing prisoners of war to gather information about bin Laden’s whereabouts (Figure 1.1). The controversy was multi‐faceted. Several members of congress went so far as to demand to know the sources for the film’s claims about the alleged torturing and even demanded that the film be re‐edited prior to video release, removing the scenes COPYRIGHTEDsuggesting that torture yielded MATERIALvital information. Others, including its Academy Award winning director, Kathryn Bigelow, defended the film, pointing to complex narrative ambiguity that in fact could just as easily be read the exact opposite way: after torture fails and the prisoners are treated humanely, they give accurate information. She and the studio refused any re‐editing and resisted all censorship attempts. A similar controversy erupted in 2014 when Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper opened (Figure 1.2).
    [Show full text]