[ I wrote this blog a month ago at the request of a publisher who ultimately decided not to run it. I’m posting it here in hopes of starting a conversation about the subject. Comments are moderated and intolerant comments will not be allowed. Discussion and disagreement are encouraged. ]
After the tragedy in Sandy Hook, there is a rush to find villains and assign blame. But the situation isn’t that easy. It took a lot of hard work from a lot of people in a lot of organizations to get us into this mess. It will take a lot of work to get us out.
There is no one villain. There is no one single “magic bullet” (pun intended) that will resolve the issue of violence in our society.
However, I was struck by how quickly our industry tried to distance itself from any responsibility for the attack, or violence in general. The current flashpoint is Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained,” described as an an ultra-violent take on slavery and societal division.
The Los Angeles Times quoted Samuel Jackson echoing the industry theme when he said: “I don’t think movies or video games have anything to do with [whether on-screen violence has an influence on someone who decides to behave violently in real life]”
While it is true that violence is bigger than a single industry, to say the media industry bears no responsibility misses the larger point. Ask yourself the following questions and see where the answers lead you.
If films have no impact on real-life, why is film merchandizing a billion dollar industry?
If films have no impact on “real-life,” why do producers make millions of dollars in product placements within their movies?
If the programs we create have no impact, why does the multi-billion-dollar advertising industry exist?
If the messages we create have no impact, why did advertisers play $7 million dollars a minute to advertise on the SuperBowl?
If what stars wear, do, or say makes no difference, why does the tabloid industry exist?
If what our scripts say makes no difference, why have so many catch-phrases entered every day speech? I mean, “go ahead, make my day.”
If what we do makes no difference, then why is “Django Unchained” the fourth Hollywood-related event to be postposed or canceled since last Friday (according to the Los Angeles Times)?
Can you honestly say that a film titled “Bullet to the Head” has no societal implications?
If we are being honest, we could say: “The money is more important.”
Or, “My story is more important.”
Or, “I’m not really paying attention to the results of my work.”
Or, “I don’t really care what happens to some little kid.”
All too often, we add violence to our stories because we don’t have any better ideas. Now look at where that attitude has taken us.
We could say that we are simply cogs in the machine, doing what we are told to do. But this is disingenuous — we always have a choice – to say “yes,” or say “no.” How can you explain to a group of children that you blow people up for a living?
Violence is complex, there are many different factors involved. But we can’t say: “What we do doesn’t matter.” None of us would be in this industry if that were true.
When pointing fingers of blame, one of them needs to point to us.
As always, let me know what you think.
Larry
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UPDATE – Feb. 4, 2013
I am very grateful for the thought-provoking reactions and comments to this blog. Please click the Comments button below to read what others have said.
33 Responses to Violence – We All Bear Responsibility
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Tim says:
February 4, 2013 at 10:58 am
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Tim says:
February 4, 2013 at 10:59 am
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Mitch says:
February 4, 2013 at 12:22 pm
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Serge says:
February 4, 2013 at 12:50 pm
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Chris Balish says:
February 4, 2013 at 1:35 pm
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Pierre Sauvage says:
February 4, 2013 at 3:09 pm
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bradbell.tv says:
February 4, 2013 at 3:09 pm
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Shaun Knapp says:
February 4, 2013 at 3:51 pm
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Andrew says:
February 4, 2013 at 3:59 pm
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Ken Ackerman says:
February 4, 2013 at 4:11 pm
Newer Comments →Sorry, Larry. Your comments are reasonable…which in today’s world, is a highly unacceptable trait…
Remember the essence of drama is conflict… ultra violent conflict is not necessary for good drama, unless it’s along the lines of a “Saving Private Ryan”
(Nicely done.)
Something we may wish to ponder: violent video games and films are played and shown all over the world, and there is no question that they are at least a contributing factor in sending an unbalanced individual over the line. But nowhere else in the developed world, even in countries where people have easy access to firearms, are there nearly the same number, per capita, of gun related deaths. We’re number one, by far.
All aspects of social life reflect the reality. Including art and cinematography. Yes, it’s money and entertainment but ultimately it’s a reflection of what is going on in real life. I do not know what “ultra violent conflict” in the previous comment means, but violence is out there. Such violence that what we often call a “content not appropriate for all views” pales in comparison…
If you remove images of violence (not matter what we talking about – TV, newspapers, novels, films, paintings) it will be a great disservice for the society. An attempt to show it as something that it is not. I wish that were not true, but it is. If you have not seen such violence you are just lucky, and luck is not a reliable thing.
Moreover, it’s not a chicken and egg proposition. Violence appeared first (long, long ago), reflection of violence is secondary. But to combat violence by not showing it is just stupid. The real question is how it is shown and with what message.
Serge, you are grasping for straws and making a silly argument. If I understand your comment correctly, you are saying that because violence does in fact exist in the world, that it’s all fine and good to put it on a 60-foot wide screen, set it to a dramatic musical score, hire famous actors to make it come alive, promote it endlessly on TV and in advertisements, and fill theatres with people who may or may not know what is in store for them. That is absurd. Making a blockbuster movie with extreme violence glorifies it, packages it and sells it to the masses. The fact that the Academy nominates these ultra-violent films for awards is further evidence that Hollywood takes absolutely no responsibility for our violent culture.
Larry, I agree with you completely. Media, movies, television, music, etc. all affect attitudes and behaviors — no one can effectively argue otherwise. If Hollywood continues to pump out extremely violent product then they have blood on their hands.
Very well put, Larry. This is not going to be a popular view in the industry, and it must have taken some courage to venture forth like this.
For thirty years, my own documentary work has focused on underscoring that the bystander is part of the crime. At the very least, if the media is doing nothing to ameliorate the spirit of our time, it bears some responsibility for what is happening. And how can movies and television and the media in general ameliorate anything if we are not willing to engage in the soul-searching you are so aptly calling for.
But the audience have guns.
Most of us outside the US find the gun massacres to have an obvious cause: tons of guns.
As a culture, it seems America can think of any number of elegant stand-ins to maintain a state of denial. Once we get rid of guns we can still have the movie violence discussion.
Wonderful Larry, it is refreshing to see responsibility acknowledged, and yes, a finger must point back to us for our aid in such a violent culture.
My dad pointed out these two paragraphs to each of his sons this past weekend at a family dinner, and it surely makes a potent point, making your case in this post too:
“And here’s another dirty little truth that the media try their best to conceal: There exists in this country a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells, and sows, violence against its own people, through vicious, violent video games with names like Bulletstorm, Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat and Splatterhouse. And here’s one: it’s called Kindergarten Killers. It’s been online for 10 years. How come my research department could find it and all of yours either couldn’t or didn’t want anyone to know you had found it?
“Then there’s the blood-soaked slasher films like “American Psycho” and “Natural Born Killers” that are aired like propaganda loops on “Splatterdays” and every day, and a thousand music videos that portray life as a joke and murder as a way of life. And then they have the nerve to call it “entertainment.”
http://www.nrapublications.org/index.php/14930/standing-guard-34/
Hollywood movies are also popular in countries that have very low levels of gun violence. Correlation doesn’t mean causation but clearly depending on where you look you can find a negative correlation between violent movies and real-world gun violence.
Well said Larry!
It’s about time the entire area of decay in our civilization got examined.
Many of us know that people learn in different ways, ex: visual, audible, touch, taste, reading and so on.
As a former teacher/instructor, it is clear to me that visual learning is pervasive in both humans and some animals. That’s where the phrase “you’re aping that!” came from.
How do we think emulation of poor taste in clothes & “fashion” (including wardrobe failures), speech, profanity galore, gangsta rap, gratuitous violence, drug culture, gang culture, no manners whatsoever, on and on ad infinitum, happens in the boring old middle class?
More succinctly, why do kids & young adults living in middle & upper class neighborhoods, think it’s “cool” to mimic the stereotypical ghetto behaviors so often portrayed on almost every screen we all see?
For millennia, it has been well understood that children have the most malleable developing brains. That’s why the Spartans, the Nazis, the Communists, and many other cultures & religions around the globe (including the good ‘ole USA), always develop their own brand of indoctrination / inoculation for kids.
(Cub Scouts & Brownies, Boy & Girl Scouts, Alter boys, Sunday School, Little & Pee Wee leagues of all flavors, School sports, etc,etc,etc.)
The perpetrators are not community minded folks doing a “service” for our young ones, plain & simple. They are, in fact, greed driven to produce trash much to the detriment of our society. The soft underbelly of society (children & the mentally challenged) begin to believe such pervasive views after awhile.
There’s a reason viewing guidelines were developed, unfortunately there too many parents who choose to ignore them and too many who pander to the darker side of human nature.
After all, what’s wrong with: gratuitous violence, gratuitous sex, gratuitous prostitution, gratuitous profanity, celebrating drug & gang culture, and the extinction of societal norms like manners, common courtesy, and respect?
Grandmother, please stop rolling over in your grave !