By David Wickenhauser

Can there be any better example of Truth is stranger than fiction than the NBC movie, Y2k, scheduled to air tomorrow night?

In an extremely convoluted twisting of real-life plots, this much-heralded and much-feared (by some) made-for-TV production might indeed bring Americans to the brink of panic.

And all the blame for this can be laid right squarely where it belongs ... in the lap of the government spin-meisters who for the past 18 months have been trying to persuade the people that Y2k will be merely a three-day-inconvenience, or a minor bump in the road.

This is one of the most irresponsible things to ever come out of Hollywood, said one lawmaker on the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem, who fails to see the irony of his tirade. Why is NBC doing this? They are going to end up scaring people into a complete panic. Shame, shame, shame on them!

Well, lets just see who should be shame-faced.

According to one reviewer, the movie may be tense and dramatic, but it wont inspire panic in the streets. By the time Y2k (the movie) hits, the public  which up until now has appeared to be largely unconcerned with the millennium bug threat  will have been thoroughly briefed by the media.

Oops! Wrong movie review. The paragraph above was written in May 1998 for a Warner Bros. production of Y2k the movie that was supposed to appear in theaters in the fall of 1999. You never saw the movie because Warner Bros. bowed to pressure and canceled the project.

Can you guess, however, why the review is loaded with tons of telling points about where we are right now with the state of Y2k in this country and with the new NBC Y2k movie?

It makes one very important assumption, and rightly so, that if people had had a year-and-a-half to learn about and prepare for Y2k then there would be no need to panic  no matter how alarmist and sensationalistic the movie portrays the Y2k rollover.

But, lo, check out the qualifier to the assumption  will have been thoroughly briefed by the media.

Oops again! Even as evidence pours in daily about widespread noncompliance within industry and government, the American public is STILL being fed a continuous diet of, Dont worry, be happy.

Right up to the bitter end, the people are being spoonfed pablum, when, instead, they have needed buckets full of good, solid, helpful information and encouragement to be ready for Y2k.

Along comes the NBC movie, then, to fill in the gap in a mass-media sort of way. And all at once weve got millions becoming Y2k aware.

Sure, NBCs giving a skewed look at Y2k. Television, after all, has to take what will be a years worth of Y2k aftereffect and compress it into a two-hour drama. You know it will be extreme, emotional, and not necessarily accurate.

But you also know that the American public likes to take its news with a large dose of entertainment, so much so that for many the line between them is virtually invisible.

The irony here is that the government is aghast at NBC for producing a movie that will create panic, when the government itself sowed the seeds of the panic more than one year ago.

There is still no certainty there will be a panic. It all depends on the American publics ability to separate fiction from reality. Uh, ohh!

If the public does panic, youll know whos to blame, and it wont be NBC.

The question is, why has the government done such a good job with the Big Lie? To what purpose have the American people been led into this dangerous situation?

I honestly dont know. I have my own theories, but you dont want to go there with me. About all we can do is wait and see what happens after the new year, wait and see what the governments reaction is to the various things that do happen.

One thing to keep in mind. If government squads show up during an emergency, fully deployed, ready to take charge, and in control of the situation, then you know they have been preparing and practicing for it for a long time. Makes you think.

Check out the web links I mentioned in previous columns if you want to learn more about this subject.

Y2k the movie stars Ken Olin as a systems-failure expert working for the federal government. As New Years Eve turns into catastrophe, he urges that all planes be grounded, then gets caught up in trying to prevent a nuclear plant outside Seattle from melting down.

One reviewer said the drama has a happy ending  which is a problem in itself because of the danger of trivializing something that likely will not be solved in two hours with time out for commercials.

I recommend you nix the movie. Instead, take the kids for a walk, read a good book out loud together, or visit other like-minded folks whose lives arent wrapped around the television set.

Next week: Computers. Compshmooters. Its the economy, stupid!

Questions? Comments? Email Dave at djwick@mercedsun-star.com or write to Dave Wickenhauser, Merced Sun-Star, 3033 N. G St., Merced, CA 95340.

-- G Bailey (glbailey1@excite.com), November 22, 1999