This was the first in a four part video series called the Spider-Man Safety series, put out by the now defunct Learning Corporation of America. The series was never commercially sold, it was released to elementary with a lesson plan soon after, such is the way with mandated videos. Because schools were the only ones that got this, it became harder than necessary to get all four tapes, with three out of four still gone for good.
How they got Spider-Man for this is actually not as baffling as you'd think. Learning Corporation of America was owned by New World Communications. Wanna know what else they owned at the time? Marvel Productions. So it was just a matter of interest. More of these educational videos with popular characters are bound to exist somewhere, we had just recently found a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles video where they sung praises for the preservation of archeological artifacts.
The tapes were distributed by Coronet/MTI Film & Video, and I assume Coronet is the same company that produced PSAs in the 50s/60s. I also assume Simon & Schuster had some involvement with this venture as the latter's logo is present in Coronet/MTI's logo.
Going into this, I want to focus on how the message is carried out along with potential nuances.
Nuances
The video series came out in 1990. Given that the first few years into a new decade still have traces of what occurred in the previous decade (why else do we have people who make the case that 2004 marked the true end of the 90s? Though I'd like to say late-2001 was when the 90s truly ended, but enough of that.) What I'm trying to say is that stuff like these would have a sense of corniness, and it comes with the territory. Fortunately, Spider-Man is known for his one-liners, so they could be more forgiveable.
When we first see him, he makes a crack about kids holding secrets, with the takeaway being "eating a whole packet of double fudge brownie cookies." Eh, a bit too forced for exploitation, and to be fair, throw a tin of salt and vinegar Pringles my way and you get the picture.
A big plus to this is that it shows abuse to the proper extent. While it plays into the stereotypes associated with abusive assholes, you kinda have to go with them when you're trying to educate children. By the way, I hate to single out race in this, but the family with the abusive one happens to be Mexican. I fear this would send the wrong idea if viewed by the wrong people, and I could imagine how something like this would be made these days.
The dad, like you'd expect, drinks heavily and hates to be talked back to, but on the upside he doesn't wear a wife-beater and isn't fat, so they didn't go full circle on the stereotypes. The victim in question is his daughter Maria, and her plight would be much more believable as a result (young ones have it the worst.) I know not why her dad beats her, or why he drinks so much, but my instinct tells me his boss isn't the cleanest spoon in the drawer.
After getting a bruise on the cheek and punching a swing, she meets up with her friends and we see an unavoidable issue. I'll let this image speak for itself.
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| Just know that every other kid resembles the one on the left. |
The character designs aren't terrible by any means. Spider-Man looks like he should (and why wouldn't he be since Marvel produced this), but the differences between Maria and her friends is jarring. She looks like she has the bear minimum when it comes to visual aspects, but the others look like they were drawn at the last minute. The adults look closer to Maria's design so I dunno.
All else I could say about the visuals...
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| My lazy-eye senses are tingling. |
Maria friends go to Spider-Man, knowing full well that Maria's bruises were well beyond simple falls, and that's one thing we all need to give this credit for, the kids aren't dumbasses here. The takeaway they get is a number for an abuse hotline, where (insert character with a resemblance here) calls it and gets more info on abuse in general.
I'd like to remind you that this came with a lesson plan, so I imagine students would have to take notes or would get pamphlets detailing what they saw. I can't be that hard on this since it was made to educate people, this was the best they could do.
And to anyone questioning why Spider-Man doesn't attack Maria's father, he only goes after criminals. Do people deserve to burn for falling from grace? Well I guess it depends on how far they go when they fall.
The takeaway from the call is that Maria should contact an adult she trusts to explain her issues, and one thing that throws me off is that a minister is suggested. I know it's a low blow, but there's a good reason ministers are often associated with... well you could guess. I won't even comment on breaking the "don't talk to strangers" doctrine because, hey, maybe Maria had met her neighbors through her mom? Like my nana did with her neighbors.
As a result of this, Maria goes to talk to one of her friends' mom and it ends on an okay, but realistic note.
If they had someone confront her father directly it wouldn't express the issue that well and would only serve as a wish fulfillment fantasy for most people. It at least mentioned all of the key notes of abuse in general, though I wish they went into more detail on the mentality of an abuse victim. They just go for the pedestrian level of, she's scared to tell someone in that her father would hate her.
Maybe if they went into more detail on why the father treats her like crap it would be more interesting, but these PSAs have a very black and white mentality. My biggest issue is that I want to look into both sides more often than I should. Would that be an issue? Depends on the topic at hand, but for now I'm curious about Maria's father side.
Animation and other stuff
These educational pieces aren't renowned for their animation. Since these are often non-profit projects, that would translate to cutting corners however they could. That TMNT video I mentioned? While they got the cast from the 80s cartoon, they used leftover costumes from their concert era.
As mentioned before, the license was far from out of reach. Marvel Productions and Learning Corporation of America were both owned by the same company at this point, and even with that in mind... I think they would've been better off dressing someone in a Spider-Man costume and making it a live-action thing.
I never saw any Spider-Man cartoon, like, ever, but I don't need to see them to know how poor the animation is. This is Hanna-Barbera levels of poor, quick cuts and jerky movement, plus the character designs are inconsistent. The only one that looks on point is Spider-Man, probably because his face is always consistent. This wasn't produced entirely in house by the way, this got outsourced to AKOM. I don't know the extent of Marvel's budget, but I'm starting to feel nervous thinking about it.
The acting is an interesting kettle. Spider-Man's voice is just fine, but I'd like to classify the kids (the boys at the very least) as Peanutty. What I mean by that is that they sound like they'd fit right in on a classic Peanuts special. This occurs whenever you have a kid voice another kid. While it makes sense, when you pick up on it long enough, there's not much good you could say. Maria sounds okay though, at least she doesn't overact.
Overall
Kids wouldn't judge something like this so harshly. It's a relatable and important issue to talk about, but it's covered in a gritty wrapper. There're three more tapes in this series which have yet to surface, but now I'm curious. Do we see these kids again in the next few installments? Does Maria's dad get a redemption arc or become more of an antagonist? Can this technically be considered better than Screams of Silence?
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