By Danny Bloom
CHIAYI CITY, Taiwan — One of the nice things about living in Japan
and Taiwan over the past 20 years is that there is no gun culture, no
gun violence, no guns blazing. So whenever I read about the increasing
gun violence in America, I cringe.
I recently read a news story about Christopher Dodd, the chairman of
the Motion Pictures Association of America (MPAA), who after the Sandy
Hook Massacre in Connecticut told reporters that Hollywood is ready to
participate in a meaningful dialogue about gun violence now. Finally.
Mr, Doed, you are from Connecticut. I am from Massachusetts, although
I am now living in Asia, far from the violent gun culture of America.
Mr. Dodd, I grew up on movies. I went to college with people who are
now film producers in Hollywood and overseas. I went to college with
people who are now famous actors in Hollywood.
I love Hollywood, and I love movies, from The Ten Commandments
which I saw when I was about 8 years old, to the recent release of
that Jean Valjean flick. So I write this ”open post” to you as a
friend of Hollywood and with the hope that maybe something can be done
to take guns and gun scenes out of future Hollywood movies — on a
voluntary studio basis, of course.
There, I said it. I am serious. I am not Jonathan Swift of yore with a
“Modest Proposal” for eating babies to solve the hunger crisis in
Ireland. No, I am a modern American man who loves movies, and yet I
feel that the time has come to rethink the way we make and show our
filmed entertainment.
As you know, Mr. Dodd, the Sandy Hook shootings also sparked calls
from your old Senate colleague Jay Rockefeller for stricter
regulations to protect children from violent images on television,
videogames and other media.
“Those of us in the motion-picture and television industry want to do
our part to help America heal,” you recently told the media. “We stand
ready to be part of the national conversation.”
Mr. Dodd, I live in Asia now. Every night I watch movies on TV here,
and in my channel surfing I find plenty of Hollywood movies – and nine
out of 10 involve scenes of guns and people firing guns. These movies
show a very violent gun culture to the rest of the world. Surely we
can find a way to stop this and still make creative, crowd-pleasing
flicks. I believe we can. If there is a vision and if there is a will.
You must lead the way.
I am calling my citizens’ lobby group on this issue SGIH, for ”Stop
Guns in Hollywood’.’ If Hollywood could cut down scenes showing people
smoking cigarettes in movies, as it has done over the past 20 years,
couldn’t Hollywood also cut down on the use of guns and guns being
fired in movie scenes, too?
Can you help?
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Bloom is Taiwan bureau chief for San Diego Jewish World and an inveterate
web surfer. He may be contacted at dan.bloom@sdjewishworld.com
at dan.bloom@s