Did we miss something, or did the media just admit Hollywood’s double standard on guns?
It was a pleasant surprise this morning to discover that USA Today entertainment writer Andrea Mandell thoroughly addressed the issue in a lengthy article entitled “Guns, Politics and Hollywood Collide.”
Mandell began with Matt Damon – simply one of a host of Hollywood actors who has been vocal about gun control, even while playing gun-toting characters on screen. In fact, while promoting his latest “Jason Bourne” film, in which his character used over five firearms, Damon praised Australia’s “sensible” widespread gun ban.
Girls producer Tami Sagher and actress Lena Dunham were having none of it, urging fans to peel the guns off of NYC subway ads that promoted the Bourne film. When E! News reporter Maria Menounos questioned Damon about his thoughts on this, the actor stated: “I totally get it…I get not wanting to see a picture of a gun right now…for the marketing purposes of Jason Bourne, I mean, he is a guy who runs around with a gun, it’s not gratuitous marketing…”
Sure, it’s not gratuitous marketing, but it’s certainly hypocritical.
Mandell went on to point out the left-leaning nature of Hollywood politics, writing that many “stars and studio heads” contribute to Democratic campaigns and hold fundraisers for liberal candidates. Seeing the incongruity between a conservative character like Chris Kyle in American Sniper and his liberal portrayer Bradley Cooper has rubbed some viewers wrong.
“It's a familiar pain point for conservative moviegoers,” Mandell wrote, “many of whom feel used by an industry that loads guns into movies while simultaneously lecturing the masses on gun control.” Kudos for pointing it out!
Some experts, like Exhibitor Relations senior box office analyst Jeff Bock, believe that using violence is “plain lazy filmmaking” – a cop out for lack of imaginative plotlines. “Stories in the action/adventure genre seem to rely on gun violence without much thought to the consequences,” he stated, according to Mandell. Yet, with new research recommending reduction of children’s exposure to virtual violence, the entertainment industry is simply irresponsible by ignoring those consequences.
But others say that Hollywood has little to do with America’s violence crisis. Mandell mentioned a study published in the American Journal of Medicine, which revealed that America’s gun murder rate is 25 times higher than those in other countries consuming the same media that we do.
In the end, the USA Today writer concluded that at least “the industry is being challenged by its audience to do better.” She ended with an unusually apt quote from Amy Schumer, who has put her money where her mouth is by actually reducing violence in her filmography. “I don’t know at all what Hollywood should do,” the far-left comedian and actress said. “I just know that I want to do my part for not glorifying and making people with guns look super-powerful."
