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NEWS: St Kilda drama makes no secret of drinking

johnboy

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St Kilda drama makes no secret of drinking
By Penny Fannin
April 29 2002
And the award for the most gratuitous promotion of alcohol on television goes to . . . The Secret Life of Us.
The Channel Ten series, set in St Kilda and tracking the life of a group of twenty and thirty-somethings, has been awarded the inaugural Boozies Award by the Australian Drug Foundation. Last night it also won a Logie for the most outstanding drama series.
The director of the foundation's Centre for Youth Drug Studies, Geoff Munro, said the Boozies were awarded for the most excessive, inappropriate or unconscionable marketing of alcohol.
"The Secret Life of Us deserves the award for the not-so-secret promotion of alcohol," Mr Munro said. "The entire first series appears to have been scripted by the alcohol industry. Five minutes in every episode is given over to drinking or the depiction of alcohol brands."
Mr Munro said all 22 episodes of the first series were analysed for how often characters drank, poured or held alcohol and for how often bottles, cans or glasses of alcohol were visible. "The analysis showed that 25 per cent of all scenes in the whole series featured alcohol consumption or visual references to alcohol," he said.
"One in every four scenes portrayed alcohol or the signs of alcohol use such as branded bottles and cans. Throughout the series 12 per cent of screen time was devoted to showing drinking or alcohol brands - almost five minutes per 43-minute episode."
In comparison, a 1999 analysis of alcohol references in six prime-time Australian programs. including Water Rats and Blue Heelers, found such references in only 3.4 per cent of scenes.
Mr Munro said it was "fair enough" for TV shows to feature alcohol as it reflected modern life, but the screen time devoted to alcohol on The Secret Life of Us was excessive.
This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/04/28/1019441327202.html
[ 29 April 2002: Message edited by: johnboy ]
 
Yes but what about the gratuitous focus on illegal drug use. I can think of three or four episodes that mention any number of drugs from including weed, bikkies and trips. I'm not complaining I'm just surprised!
 
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