It's already taken me more time to read other member reviews of this Fifties era Civil Defense short than it did to watch the film itself. I don't recall ever seeing it as a kid in parochial school during the Fifties, but there's something oddly familiar about Bert the Turtle. Just can't put my finger on it.
Back in the day, we used to do those duck and cover drills quite regularly, and I also remember helping put away boxes of canned goods that all the students brought in as a stockpile in case we ever came under attack. I used to think to myself that if it ever happened, I'd rather make a break for it across the baseball field from school to my house where I'd be with my family. Think about it, those planes would be pretty high up there; surely I could make it in a dead run under a minute. I even timed it a few times, I knew I could make it.
Seriously, I remember all of that. Now I wonder how an eight or nine year old kid grows up with that kind of paranoia, seeing as how the picture suggests repeatedly that danger exists EVERY DAY, ALL THE TIME, EVERY DAY, ALL THE TIME. I imagine it's how kids today must feel while being constantly bombarded by the idea that global warming is going to annihilate civilization as we know it. Drive less, buy smaller cars, go green, buy in to the propaganda that the government is going to save your butt because you're too dumb to figure things out for yourself. Then there's the threat of nuclear terrorist states getting an atomic bomb themselves. Maybe it's time to start doing those duck and cover drills with the air conditioning on.
Back in the day, we used to do those duck and cover drills quite regularly, and I also remember helping put away boxes of canned goods that all the students brought in as a stockpile in case we ever came under attack. I used to think to myself that if it ever happened, I'd rather make a break for it across the baseball field from school to my house where I'd be with my family. Think about it, those planes would be pretty high up there; surely I could make it in a dead run under a minute. I even timed it a few times, I knew I could make it.
Seriously, I remember all of that. Now I wonder how an eight or nine year old kid grows up with that kind of paranoia, seeing as how the picture suggests repeatedly that danger exists EVERY DAY, ALL THE TIME, EVERY DAY, ALL THE TIME. I imagine it's how kids today must feel while being constantly bombarded by the idea that global warming is going to annihilate civilization as we know it. Drive less, buy smaller cars, go green, buy in to the propaganda that the government is going to save your butt because you're too dumb to figure things out for yourself. Then there's the threat of nuclear terrorist states getting an atomic bomb themselves. Maybe it's time to start doing those duck and cover drills with the air conditioning on.