Anger as violent TV scenes filmed in park as children were playing

“I was at the park on the morning of filming with my 2yr old and almost 1yr old (the latter of which took no notice of what was going on!) I agree it would be a terrible shame for production companies to stop using the city for filming. However in this instance I would have chosen not to use the park had I known the nature of the material being shot. I do not live locally so would not have expected to receive a letter, the sign at the entrance we use just said something about filming but there was no notice about content. My biggest concern was not with the violence (the director explained the guys were acting, so it was pretend - my daughter seemed to understand this) but with the language which we'd been given no warning about. One of the characters approaching a man on a motorbike sitting outside the gate shouted 'f*** you, what the f*** are you looking at?!' my daughter actually turned to me and said 'I wasn't looking at him mummy!' it seems almost funny, but we do what we can to protect our kids from that kind of language so I was pretty shocked at the time. As it happens she didn't repeat what she'd heard or appear troubled by what she'd seen so I didn't think to complain, interesting that it's being discussed now. Again, I have no problem with the filming and on a very insignificant note it's nice to see where we live on the tv, but I do think there should have been better notification at the park entrances.”

“Of course the play area is surrounded by fencing so that none of the children would even be able to see anything happening outside.

But why let the facts affect a sensational story though.”

“Totally agree Olga. Like you said, there are other parks that could have been used. How dare they use the one that YOU frequent. They could have used somewhere grotty like Bedminster or Knowle, where the violence would have just blended in.

It must have been a complete nightmare having to use one of the 30 or so other play parks in Bristol. I can see why all of the parents were mortally upset at such an inconvenience.

The obvious answer to your question about de-sensitizing our children is no. We don't want them to become de-sensitized to violence. Which is why most people won't be letting their children watch a 'gritty channel 4 drama'. Of course you were still exposed to it as it was filmed, may I suggest a few ways to avoid seeing such terrible imitations of life in the future?

1) Look the other way

2) Leave

Let's just hope that nobody ever films anything ever again in Bristol. Particularly YOUR area. I mean it took years to get rid of Casualty. But it left many minds scarred with the images of people being hit by cars, impaling themselves on railings and getting trapped in burning buildings in Ashley Down. One of the most grotesque and graphic programmes to be filmed here in my opinion. Every time I walk past somewhere that has been used in filming I have flashbacks of the horrid (realistic) incidents that were depicted.

At least it's Cardiff's problem now though eh? ;)”

“Everyone is entitled to their view and some made comments earlier but what does it say about the number of active readers of the site if the lady who was featured in the article can raise a 2 week old article to the top of the charts by ,presumably accidentally,repeating a post.”

“This article and its comments raise two important questions.
1) Should the Council have given permission for a violent scene (or any scene for that matter) to be filmed in a public space? Was the Council not aware that on a sunny school holiday morning this particular park would be very busy? There are many other parks in Bristol which are pretty much empty throughout the year. Does the Council not know this? And why did the Council judge the health of its film industry as more important than the concerns of parents in the playground?
2) Do we actually want to desensitise ourselves and our children to violence? Is desensitisation to violence a desirable outcome? What does it mean and what does it lead to? Do we want a society that is desensitised to violence?

I was at the playground on that morning and every parent I spoke to was surprised and annoyed that the Council had taken such a decision supposedly on behalf of us.”

“This article and its comments raise two important questions.
1) Should the Council have given permission for a violent scene (or any scene for that matter) to be filmed in a public space? Was the Council not aware that on a sunny school holiday morning this particular park would be very busy? There are many other parks in Bristol which are pretty much empty throughout the year. Does the Council not know this? And why did the Council judge the health of its film industry as more important than the concerns of parents in the playground?
2) Do we actually want to desensitise ourselves and our children to violence? Is desensitisation to violence a desirable outcome? What does it mean and what does it lead to? Do we want a society that is desensitised to violence?

I was at the playground on that morning and every parent I spoke to was surprised and annoyed that the Council had taken such a decision supposedly on behalf of us.”

“look, it's a childrens play area, what is wrong with you people?
do you realy not see why some people might be upset?”

“"Filming in Bristol's parks and public spaces bring many benefits, in particular, it helps to promote the city nationally and potentially internationally, reaching worldwide audiences"

-not if its masquerading as a park in Brighton it wont.”

“@anitt
Are you still troubled by thoughts of seeing a timelord still? or worse Daleks?”

“So Olga, how much compensation will ease your pain?”