The Movie of the Week: Private Stories/Public Events

Made-for-television movies, Rapping argues cogently and thoughtfully, probe serious issues better than most other TV genres. A professor of communications at Adelphi University, Rapping consigns heavy academic discussion to a long introduction, though she makes her feminist and media theories accessible throughout the book. Theatrical films are increasingly aimed at youths who want to get out of the house and at men who usually decide what a couple will view. TV movies, which often are shown only once, can take more risks, Rapping notes, and cater more to women, the primary shoppers. She's aware of the contradictions in TV movies: serious themes are sold through sex and violence, and a concentration on family themes, even in histories like Roots , ``trivialize issues of power and money.'' But some films, like Roe vs. Wade , recreate histories lost to many viewers, including her students. Rapping also suggests that the subtle, psychologically insightful narrative structure of film serves, in contrast to the more straightforward plots of TV movies, to ``deny the existence of a relevant larger community.'' She compares theatrical and TV films in several genres; a TV movie like Lois Gibbs and the Love Canal, she argues, is far more feminist than Silkwood. (Sept.)