Tobe Hooper
Poltergeist

There is an illegal devil in my TV (and Spielberg knew it).   

Returning home has a particular flavor, especially after hours in a stuffy office with air conditioning that comes and goes and swollen eyes that now see pixels everywhere, even during the mechanical weekly orgasm... Yes, I'm tired. A nice shower and then teletext. 17:21 and I sink into the sofa. Orfeo wants control of my abstract mind for about ten minutes, like a diligent and bespectacled McDonald's clerk prepares my medium macmenu with obscure dedication; and in his polite automaton savoir-faire always ready, immediately provides the ketchup and mayonnaise requested by yours truly, a bit of a pest, in the packaging: it's so nice and stimulating to drown the soft, blonde, and warm fries in them... And instantly, a little girl with long golden hair takes shape from my light sleep. I see her calm, silent in front of the turned-off living room TV. The TV suddenly turns on, but there is no signal, and the screen is traversed by shadows and grey waves; and by the white noise that fills the air around. The girl seems almost hypnotized, and a parallel voice would like to speak to her: don't be afraid, little one, you will be our little Alice. We want only your good, let your parents and siblings sleep in peace. You don't have to worry, we'll take care of you. Because we care about your growth, you 'must' grow with our programs, feed on them. The others, false intellectuals, think they know everything and talk about false models or the collapse of educational values -but, Christ, if the institutions don't care, why should we?! Come, enter our magical and naive world: maybe in a few years you can be part of a casting, and imitate those stunning and sensual girls moving with the big red puppet with the Genoese accent... Success is easy and fast inside this box, you know. You just have to want it, but in the meantime, consume. Wander through the frequencies and consume. 57 channels and consume. Local networks and consume. Let others hear your new ringtone and consume, damn it. Steven Spielberg had written the subject and screenplay for 'Poltergeist - Demonic Presences' long ago, and as a producer, he entrusted its direction in 1982 to Tobe Hooper, famous for the epochal slasher/horror of '74 "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre".

The story of Steve and Diane's family tranquility (played by Craig T. Nelson and Jobeth Williams) and their offspring Carol Anne, Robbie, and Dana, disrupted by inexplicable 'paranormal' phenomena, will give rise to a spectacle more pyrotechnic than scary, in line with Spielberg's coordinates. Indeed, the ex-enfant prodigy of Hollywood will be credited with many scenes of the film -and perhaps the true authorship of 'Poltergeist' belongs to the producer-author rather than the tenacious, and not very 'palatable' for large audiences, Hooper.
Success, needless to say, will come as expected; testified by two rather mediocre sequels: a sign that the 'tale' of the black man in the home television, built on the usual old cemetery, and of little Carol Anne vanished and held captive by these otherworldly entities had struck the collective imagination. Especially those who, even at the time, saw television as a tested and reliable tool to lull and 'kidnap' the masses' freedom of thought.

A side note on the numerous tragedies that have involved the 'Poltergeist' saga, including Dominique Dunne (Dana), killed by her partner after the film's release, and the young star Heather O'Rourke, the interpreter of Carol Anne, who died a few years later due to a serious and rare disease.

17:34 - A startle, and the thrilling torpor upon waking up. Let's turn on this TV, worst case I get Cucuzza's face... But on the teletext, I curiously search for the sports page of the transfer market... Oh, look, Chivu to Inter. 'A life choice' he says. Smart and (just) hypocritical the lad. The players pass, the Magic remains.

The epilogue, superfluous and transformative. 

'Up every evening 'bout half eight or nine I give my complete attention to a very good friend of mine. He's quadraphonic, he's a, he's got more channels