Speaking before a group of high school students, Dr. Peter Keegan adopts the persona of "Old Doc Nuralja" as he talks with teens about healthy lifestyles, drug abuse and sex. Plucking his banjo and singing folk songs like a backwoods Tennessee folk medicine man, "Old Doc" (whose educational background includes Harvard and UCSF Medical School) begins on a distinctly religious note, discussing theories of evolution and pointing out that while science has proven that life forms evolve, it hasn't a clue how matter arose in the first place. Promoting a "God works with science--creationism works with evolution" approach, Keegan tells teens that they have a divine nature and that self-centered behavior does not lead to happiness in life, thereby nicely laying the groundwork for a look at the leading causes of death among young adults: accident, homicide, and suicide. Using homemade charts, Keegan discusses various drugs and their dangerous effects, explains the different signs of sleep and coma, reminds his listeners about how many abusers drown in their own vomit, and covers sexually transmitted diseases, treatments and cure rates. His non-mainstream views on organized religion ("don't confuse God with religion"), pro-legalization of marijuana stance, views on creationism/evolution, and occasional locker room humor (three-legged jokes seemed out of place) might well anger some parents; however, as a parent myself (and I don't think I'm alone here), I value multiple perspectives and find my children make better choices when exposed to a variety of viewpoints. Recommended, with reservations. Aud: H, C, P. (L. Stevens)
Old Doc Nuralja's Teen Talk
(1999) 60 min. $24.95. Pam Partee Productions (avail. from Keegan MD Productions). PPR. Color cover. ISBN: 0-615-11111-4. Volume 17, Issue 1
Old Doc Nuralja's Teen Talk
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.