John Daly, Hollywood producer and director and Guest Editor for the previous issue of Moving Pictures Magazine, responds to readers' letters. Dear Mr. Daly,
I love movies that have a lot of action in them, and when I was younger I didn't mind scenes that showed a lot of violence. I've never enjoyed violence, but it didn't bother me then. Now, I don't go to movies that I know will have a lot of violent scenes.
Your comments about violence in movies, saying it's a bad thing to have so much of it, seem to be made from the point of view of a parent - you talk about the effect on "our children." And I found it interesting that another article in this issue you were involved with also gives this point of view. (Kevin Rodney Sullivan. The article says that "as a dad" he is disturbed by "how cavalier we've become about violence in films.")
So I wonder if this is an attitude that goes along with being a parent. Or with identifying with that responsibility. From your contacts with others in the movie industry, do you see that kind of connection? Are the people who promote these violent films young? If they're older, are they people who don't care about family? Or is it considered weak to care about those relationships? Dorothy Caimano
Agoura, California Dear Ms. Caimano,
I would like to think that we are all "parents" of the children on our planet and, as such, we have an extra responsibility to guide them to a less violent future. At the present time, we have more wars, child prostitution, sickness, hunger and poverty and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Now throw in violent action videos and films and wonder
why young people are so lost in this crazy, sad world.
Yours sincerely,
John Daly
Dear Editor,
It was heartwarming to read John Daly's criticism of big budget movies that sell nothing but violence. To see a magnate of the film industry plead for more inspiring, ethical and educating, quality movies is very uplifting at the very least, and one can only hope that the industry will go through a shift in values. But in the meantime, the sad reality remains that Hollywood never claimed to be an educator.
Let's face it, most adults in the U.S. go to the movies to be entertained and to forget about their worries, at the very best entrusting a self-help book or a Sunday mass to take care of the moralizing business. In the American suburbs with few sidewalks, coffee shops that close early, curfew hours and practically nothing entertaining geared for teenagers, going to the movies is a safe and relatively inexpensive alternative that relieves parents of the pressure to entertain their children and of the fear that the kids might be somewhere else doing drugs or smoking, or catching STDs. So unfortunately, whether the movie is violent or not is probably one of the least of their concerns. And as we all know, many teenagers like violent "action" movies.
The question that boggles my mind, especially coming from the consumer's perspective, is why violence sells so well. That producers are concerned only with profits is disturbing, but understandable. The fact that so many people pay so much money to see so much violence is, however, still a mystery to me. Where does the thirst for all this violence come from? Is demand determined by supply? Has it been the same slippery slope as with fast food, where we've gradually learned to love a product and now we need everything super-sized? Or are we all nothing but intrinsically violent beasts that enjoy watching "survival of the fittest" games? Is violence cool because of the machismo culture we've been raised in? Do we all have a sick natural propensity towards drama, conspiracies and shiny explosives? Is it because of the boogeyman parents threaten us with? Is it the videogames? Intelligent marketing? Brilliant advertising of weapons manufacturers'? Why do we live in a culture that idealizes violence?
I don't expect anyone in any discipline to find the answer to that question. However, one certainty is that Hollywood has become much more than an entertainment industry: It permeates more spheres of our lives than we might admit, it increasingly shapes cultural shifts, it sets trends and models for the new generation, and it has also become the emblem of American culture worldwide. There are very deep and troubling implications in that, and, since Hollywood is not a homogeneous hierarchical institution, it is up to individual producers to step up to the plate and break the trend. John Daly makes a tremendously important proposition - now let's hope producers will follow. Emy Matesan
Phoenix Dear Ms. Matesan,
In response to your letter, I can only suggest that violence in films is a much easier "sell" than other topics because, sadly, we are living in a very violent world in which violence in films and video games has been trivialized to where young minds have difficulty knowing what is right or wrong.
In fact, the point of my article was to criticize filmmakers who have made a reputation of continually making films where violence and death is fun, wrapped up and packaged to the very lowest, basest instinct of human nature.
Wake up, Hollywood, and make a stand and, hopefully, a better world. Sincerely,
John Daly
Editor, Moving Pictures Magazine:
It's about time a well-respected movie producer spoke out concerning the senseless violence our children are exposed to in popular media on a regular basis. Your magazine's article profiling John Daly struck a chord on this point. I write to express my appreciation and encouragement for more of this kind of reporting.
As an educator I am repelled by what I see in the movie previews for violently charged films. Mr. Daly talks about the "bottom line". I think we should think about the long-range impact such "entertainment" creates. Thank you for having the guts to print such a critical piece. Jane Rogers
Educator
Scottsdale, Arizona
Dear Mr. Daly,
I saw your article and read with much interest your views on violence and wanting to make a positive impact on future generations. However, I do not understand how you can make such comments, when Terminator and Platoon are extremely violent movies. Some violence is of course necessary in war films in order to convey the feelings and ideas, but much of the violence in Terminator was not necessary to convey fear and I believe there was gratuitous violence in Platoon as well. Mary McCurdy from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Dear Ms. McCurdy,
I do not have to defend Platoon, as the violence in that film was only about one percent of the real events where, once again, terrible atrocities were carried out by so-called civilized nations.
With respect to Terminator, I am not on safe ground and can only reiterate that it was a "Love Story" until Arnold came into it and the focus shifted onto the "Terminator."
Hopefully, we can all look forward to less violence in future films, as the killing fields of Hollywood have given the world more than its fair share.
Yours sincerely,
John Daly
Dear Editor,
I read with great interest the John Daly article in your [Aug/Sept 2005] issue. I write to express my compliments for publishing what many would consider professional suicide. Mr. Daly's encouraging critical comments regarding an industry that constitutes his source of income was refreshing and satisfyingly thought-provoking.
It's not often that one publicly breaks ranks with his profession to turn a critical eye on that profession. I found Mr. Daly's confession that he is, indeed, a hypocrite extremely revelatory. There are few in the filmmaking profession that this writer is aware of who will acknowledge, let alone address, the existence of the intrinsic, symbiotic entanglements that constitute the moral balancing act filmmakers perform. Mr. Daly's comments reveal with impressive candor the dichotomy that exists in offering a contemporary, jaded audience socially relevant creations that are also financially successful.
I enjoy your publication and look forward to more.
Allen Stinson
Pasadena, California
To the Editor:
It's interesting that there was such a focus on film violence in this issue of your magazine (Aug/Sept 2005) when you have so recently run an article on the growth of kids' and family movies (Kids Spell Big Bucks; June/July 2005).
Yes, there are a lot of violent movies, but in the kids' movies article, your writer Nicholas Tana made a good case for kids and family movies, too, being popular and financially successful. And they're not all cartoons. Some even feature actors who are known for more violent roles playing kid-friendly characters in a kid-friendly movie, like the recent Vin Diesel movie "The Pacifier." Melissa Platt
San Francisco, CA |
