Society-violence blame disputed

Press, 4 February 1987, Page 19

Society-violence blame disputed

By

JAMES GREEN

The running and jumping over cars has to stop some time. "I’m too old for it now,” says John Thaw. He has fond memories of his 52 shows and two movies as Regan of “The

Sweeney,” but is not exactly complaining about his latest TV role as “Inspector Morse,” a murder-mystery trilogy screening on Britain’s I.T.V.

“Morse is a detective of the Sherlock Holmes school and solves his crimes using brains rather than muscle,” says Thaw, aged 45.,

Television now seems to have moved away from the orchestrated violence of series such as “The Sweeney.” So how does an ex-action man, Thaw, feel about it now?

“For various reasons, crime has increased in recent years — but nobody’s going to tell me it’s because of shows like mine,” he says. “Nobody watched us, then switched off, and said, ‘Let’s go and mug an old lady or rob a bank’.” . “When I’m rehearsing my comedy series, ‘Home To Roost,’ we work in Lambeth where one in four is out of a job. What have they got to do all day? They get bored, they’re short of money. So they think about nicking a car radio or pinching £2O from an old lady leaving the post office. “But they’re not doing it because they saw somebody like me on the telly the night before. “I can think of gang leaders who are in the nick now and who never saw ‘The Sweeney’.” Thaw is not justifying it — just trying to understand why it happens. The craggy face becomes even more furrowed by a frown as he lights another cigarette. “Just watch the TV news,” he says. “Doesn’t that prove we live in violent times?”

He adds: “Kids either learn the right attitudes and worthwhile judgments at home or in school. Those are . the only two places. And they don’t seem to be getting them. “The trouble starts from lack of parental guidence, standards in school, general conditions and unemployment” He defends the. documentary style of “The Sweeney.” “We got away from the usual artificiality, like in a western film where somebody gets hurt but you never see any blood and they carry on fighting. “The Americans like to glamorise violence and I think that’s wrong. If you’re going to have it, you should try to show it as it is.” Nevertheless, Thaw insists he has always had his own anti-violence code. “I act as my own censor,” he says. “I won’t accept any script that includes a rape scene, whether it involves my characters or not. “You can mention rape in the dialogue, but not show the scene. I think degrading a woman in that way is one of the worst crimes.” Surprisingly, his code also includes nudity. “Most nude scenes on TV aren’t necessary,” he says. “Showing a girl’s bottom for no purpose contributes nothing to the story.” But he does not lend his voice to the stop-the-bad-language lobby. “It doesn’t bother me,” he admits. “I use it myself occasionally, and, when I hear it on TV, I’m not offended personally.” Thaw, married to the actress Sheila Hancock, has played so many tough guys that he is amazed he has never

been challenged by one of those wouldbe public-bar hard men who can never distinguish between a TV role and the actor who plays it “I think they leave me alone because they’re not sure how much is acting and how much is really me,” he says. “Even when I met a bunch of lifers in a Melbourne jail,' they treated me courteously." So Regan-Morse isn’t tough at all? “I’ll tell you the truth — I’m just an ordinary, boring man. A big softie. “I’m easily moved — quite emotional, really. I cry at sad films and sentimental music. And I prefer women’s company to men’s.” — DUO Copyright