Product Details

• Actors: Don Cheadle, Robert Hooks, Sugar Ray Leonard, Chuck Brown, Dewey Hughes
• Directors: Loren Mendell
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: PBS
• DVD Release Date: March 3, 2009
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001NY4WYW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,102 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

(DVD/55 min) This program chronicles the life and times of America's first shock jock, a man who spoke the truth to people in power and influenced a new generation of broadcast personalities.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Documentary, June 18, 2009

By 

Wendie A. Peterson "American Girl" (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Adjust Your Color: The Truth of Petey Greene (DVD)

This is an excellent documentary of Petey Greene's life. I wish I knew about him when he was alive. Kudos to all responsible for putting it together.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A shock jock who cared about others, June 19, 2011

By 

Lee in Kansas City (Kansas City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adjust Your Color: The Truth of Petey Greene (Amazon Instant Video)

Petey Greene was one of the original shock jocks, serving in an era when shock jock held a far more substantial meaning than it does now. Currently, "shock jock" (ala Alex Jones, Howard Stern, etc.) is someone stoops to emotion over intellect, and sensationalism, with ratings being the #1 driver of content. Compare that to Greene's mindfulness and unflinching advocacy for the needs of others. Greene shocked not by rousing animal emotions, but with the truth, asking questions that needed to be asked. Sure, Greene liked the attention. It takes a certain ego to do what he did. Even so, he utilized his attention-getting abilities to shine light on issues that "comforted the afflicted and afflicted the comfortable." He became a fighter for the under-served, for those (to quote the video), "who struggle to find their place and voice in society."

Because both his parents had run afoul of the law, Greene was raised by his grandmother, and there wasn't lot of money to go around. Even so, years later, when people talked about various black leaders they admired, Petey delivered a tribute in rhyme declaring that the only black leader he'd ever had was his grandmother, who was sitting on a cloud somewhere waiting for him. She had made the life he eventually enjoyed possible, and had also taught him her faith, something which was important to him, though he was kept that part of his life private. He never forgot what she gave him.

Entering adulthood, Green left his grandma for the military, but the experience culminated in discharge due to heroin addiction. From there, he turned to crime, and eventually, landed in prison. it was in prison that he decided he would turn his life around, and never again be incarcerated. Along the way, Greene embraced a passion to make a difference in the lives of others. For example, Greene continually exhorted others to avoid going to prison, because they'd surely be violated there. As he put it, when he arrived in prison, he looked like Briget Bardot, but mercifully escaped being attacked due to the reputations of his father and brother. Others, he said, wouldn't fare as well.

In prison, he utilized his quick wit, charm, and ability to tell it like it is, to go on the prison PA system for a couple of hours every night to entertain the prisoners. Unfortunately for him, he was such a hit that every time he came up for parole, his parole was denied. In frustration, he arranged a situation that suggested he had influence with the prisoners that the guards couldn't produce, and within a day, he was paroled. It was an example of his continual advice to others to "be smart."

For many years in radio and later in TV, Greene stayed devoted to the nation's Capitol and the needs of its citizenry. Eventually, however, "Petey Greene's Washington" television show was seen all over the country, and with that, his commentary broadened to include a national focus. Such success came even though Green sometimes stood in his own way. For example, in earlier times, after three years of persistence, his manager succeeded in securing Greene a spot on the Johnny Carson Show. Greene was a no-show, however, choosing instead to stay away and get drunk. His relationship with alcohol didn't serve him, but he managed to do a lot of good despite this persistent stumbling block.

In his radio and TV shows, Greene asked hard questions about the government's fidelity to the people it represented. For example, one question was how there could be such a high percentage of homeless people when so many houses stood boarded up. During that segment, I was reminded of a story economist Catherine Austin Fitts, former HUD Asst. Secretary, has told. As a child, Fitts used to walk by boarded up housing in Philadelphia, and she pondered the same question. Much later, working at HUD and witnessing the underbelly which permitted such abuses, Fitts refused to go along, was fired, and was brutally persecuted for a great number of years thereafter. She never stopped exploring such issues, however. Both individuals saw similar abuses, and each worked in their own areas of giftedness to advocate for justice. Such individuals are rare, and we need more of them! That's why it's terrific that PBS has made available the Petey Greene story on this video. Each such individual must be recognized and celebrated in a nation where things are often not what they appear.

Greene used his public platforms to care, but also influenced people on a personal level. For example, whenever he noticed someone's natural abilities of any kind, he let them know it was their responsibility to themselves and to others to make the best use of that talent. If he could set up situations to help foster the use of a talent (even nudging people out of their comfort zones), he'd do so.

What the public could always depend upon is that Greene's shows were hard-hitting, and he arrived informed. Guests were pressed for the truth, and if they couldn't bring it, they were revealed as lightweights, or even frauds. At the height of his broadcast career, President Carter invited Greene to the White House, while being lauded by Vice President Humphrey as being the voice of conscience for the people. Ten thousand of those people paid their respects at the funeral of this community activist. His lifetime of community service through broadcasting gave a worthy name to the term, "shock jock." Would that the spirit of Petey Greene's legacy stay alive in others.

In my rating, I give Petey Greene five stars, and the PBS depiction of his life, four stars. The documentary was particularly good in presenting the experiences of many who'd known Petey well, but could have had an even stronger narrative.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Raw and funny, December 30, 2009

By 

Sandman (California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adjust Your Color: The Truth of Petey Greene (DVD)

Petey Greene was RAW and HILARIOUS. He wasn't afraid to call people out on his TV show - even Howard Stern. Scene with Stern wearing "blackface" and fake afro is priceless. Saw this at the Afro-Punk Festival in Brooklyn.