Bert the turtle is walking along when a monkey with a firecracker comes at him. At the last minute he avoids injury by ducking down to the ground and covering his head. Bert's idea is so good in fact that, say there was an atomic bomb attack (no stay with me here), Bert would probably come off not too bad. This public information film from the 1950's explains to school children what action to take if there is an nuclear attack in their area.
We all know about this film and we have all seen it spoofed in things like Simpsons and South park but I really do recommend that you watch it because it is genuinely hard to describe just how surreal and creepy it is. Here we have the Government speaking to their people of the time the people who they were leading into a period of history where atomic bombs were used on others and also likely to be used on them. This is the official and cheerful advice that they gave to the children of their nation. In fairness I suppose it would have been worse to come out and say "look you're pretty much screwed" because the public reaction might have been to question why their government is putting them in that situation, so here is what they did.
Done in the same style as "proper" educational films, this is eerie to watch because you cannot mentally make the jump back in time when this might have been accepted. It is hard not to think of the fate of those people advised to avoid bad burns by hiding behind newspaper or by ensuring that they cover the back of their neck with their hands. With this in mind the cheerful voice of the presentation shouting the slogan "duck and cover" like a kids TV host is all the more jarring for it.
Fascinatingly disturbing stuff that is worth seeing even if it will only serve to upset and feed cynicism if you linger on it. That said though, it is nice to move past the easy spoofs that we all have seen and watch this for what it is.
We all know about this film and we have all seen it spoofed in things like Simpsons and South park but I really do recommend that you watch it because it is genuinely hard to describe just how surreal and creepy it is. Here we have the Government speaking to their people of the time the people who they were leading into a period of history where atomic bombs were used on others and also likely to be used on them. This is the official and cheerful advice that they gave to the children of their nation. In fairness I suppose it would have been worse to come out and say "look you're pretty much screwed" because the public reaction might have been to question why their government is putting them in that situation, so here is what they did.
Done in the same style as "proper" educational films, this is eerie to watch because you cannot mentally make the jump back in time when this might have been accepted. It is hard not to think of the fate of those people advised to avoid bad burns by hiding behind newspaper or by ensuring that they cover the back of their neck with their hands. With this in mind the cheerful voice of the presentation shouting the slogan "duck and cover" like a kids TV host is all the more jarring for it.
Fascinatingly disturbing stuff that is worth seeing even if it will only serve to upset and feed cynicism if you linger on it. That said though, it is nice to move past the easy spoofs that we all have seen and watch this for what it is.