A consequence of insanity

Press, 27 February 1980, Page 23

A consequence of insanity

By

FELICITY PRICE

'lt seems inhumane in .the extreme to leek up someone for a lifetime in solitary confinement just because he is not the full Squid —or, rather, because he wasn’t the full quid in his youth. These days, even a “life” sentence, translated into prison terms, with remission for

good behaviour and parole, can be reduced to iabout a decade.

“At His Majesty’s Pleasure” on TV2 on Monday night was a sensitive documentary about Reg Matthews, who was senteenced to indefinite detention in New. Zealand psychiatric hospitals in 1921. Now in his 80s, Reg Matthews doesn’t appear to be as insane as one would have expected

someone locked away all his life to be. He was just a sad, tired old man whose strange behaviour in his youth would today have been treated and possibly cured, rather than causing him to be locked away in a small cell in a straitjacket, taking away all his physical

strength and his dignity. But Reg Matthews’ story made for good viewing, a topical documentary in what we are led to-be-lieve will be a series of documentaries, shown on TV2 every Monday night at 7 p.m. under the general title “Contact” — made by Television New Zealand in some cases, and by private film companies in others. Strange as it may seem,

Television New Zealand has programmed both its local documentary and current affairs programmes on TV2, a decision that is going to leave a lot of New Zealanders in the dark, simply because they are unable to receive the second channel. “Ey*e Witness,” the sole current affairs programme on television this year, is screened on TV2 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. And “Good Day,” the lunchtime current affairs programme that was so excellent last year, has got the chop. So what does that leave us with? Very little indeed. It could easily be said that there is a dearth of good documentaries on television in New Zealand these days. It makes you wonder what all those television journalists were doing, in particular, over December, January and most of February, when there were no current affairs or local, up-to-date documentaries whatsoever.

I !ÜBH VIEWING