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Alan K. Stout
I was recently watching some of the MLB playoffs on TV, and during quite a few of the games, one commercial kept on repeating and repeating. It was for DirecTV and it featured actress Heather O'Rourke and actor Craig T. Nelson of "Poltergeist" fame. Maybe you've seen it. It's on all the time, and thanks to some clever video editing, it's pretty well done.
Still, I have a big problem with the spot, and after doing a little online research, I've learned that so do lots of other people.
O'Rourke, the cute little blond-haired girl who appears in the commercial and starred in all three "Poltergeist" films, died unexpectedly in 1988.
She was only 12 years old.
At the time, it was a very big story in the news and on shows like "Entertainment Tonight." Any time a child dies, it is especially tragic, and in this case, it was a child well known to an entire nation.
Though she was only about six years old when she made the first "Poltergeist" film, it was a box office smash and she was, without question,already a movie star.
This is why, when I first saw the DirecTV commercial, I felt a little uncomfortable. Using an old movie image of somebody like John Wayne or Clark Gable is cool, but aren't dead children a bit taboo? Or, as one blogger wrote, "I just think a dead child should be off limits. In fact this ad makes me want to cancel my DirecTV, which I might do if they don't pull it off." Others, like me, felt it was in extremely poor taste and even exploitive. The fact that the child - dead in real life - is apparently "haunting" her former on-screen father in the commercial makes it even more creepy and in even poorer taste. Frankly, I can't believe that Nelson, who must have made a fortune in Hollywood over the years, especially from his hit TV series "Coach," would even agree to appear in such a spot. He knew O'Rourke.
He made three films with her.
Why didn't he feel using this footage in this way was inappropriate?
I don't know the answer, but according to some blogs I read, O'Rourke's family did approve and felt it would be a nice tribute to the late child. Ultimately, I guess it is their feelings and opinion that matters most, but I still can't get past the idea that this was a bad idea on every level and yet it somehow got by a lot of people to find its way into our living rooms. Some people in a big boardroom somewhere thought it would be effectivemarketing, but to me and apparently many others, all it does is remind us of the tragic death of a beautiful and talented child.
Not a very good way to sell subscriptions.
About the Author
Alan K. Stout is the music columnist at The Weekender and has been covering rock and pop music in NEPA for more than 15 years. His column, "Music on The Menu" appears every week in The Weekender.
Alan has won a Keystone Press Award for Excellence in Journalism for his music coverage and has been voted Northeast Pennsylvania's "Favorite Newspaper Columnist" seven times.
Alan's interviews include conversations with Billy Joel, Steven Tyler, Eddie Van Halen, David Bowie and Ray Charles. He also wrote the liner-notes to the entire Motley Crue catalog, he is the host of the monthly "Weekender/Mountaingrown Original Music Series" and is the founder of NEPA's annual "Concert For A Cause." He also hosts a weekly radio show, "Music On The Menu Live," which can be heard every Sunday night at 8 p.m. on 102.3-FM, The Mountain.
In addition to his work with The Weekender, Alan also serves as the Newspapers In Education Manager at The Times Leader.