Grief

[Christine]

The Deseret News (Salt Lake) just published one of the most thoughtful, direct commentaries on the debate about violence in media:

"It is common for prominent individuals in Hollywood like these to throw their collective weight behind controversial causes like animal rights, global warming, abortion and contraception rights. Many in the industry also have championed efforts toward cancer research, disaster relief, food security and international human trafficking. But where is the movement for more humanity in film? Imagine the outcry among celebrities if a movie or game depicted a horse enduring brutal torture and murder. Instead of standing up for more humane treatment of humans, they defend their rights to creativity and free expression.

But rather than a free speech debate protecting the creative merits of violent entertainment, we should reframe the debate to focus on the needs of children. We orient our society around the rights, needs and pleasures of adults in just about every sense. It is time to come together to consider the minds of our children.

Children worldwide already face a tumultuous economic and societal future, yet they are increasingly exposed to human-on-human violence in movies or game simulations at astounding rates. Rather than top celebrities and entertainment companies selfishly straining to profiteer from simulated violence, why don’t actors, screenwriters, directors, producers and distributors of games and movies make the moral and economic choice to invest in and inspire the next generation?

Ironically, it is no longer edgy, avant-garde or even creative to push the limits on human depravity and cruelty in cinema. It is passé. So it should be the aim of creative leaders in Hollywood to use their protected freedoms to seek a new boundary, and rise to a new challenge.

But instead of proposing some new regulatory oversight, I appeal to the civic virtue of self-governance. A-list Hollywood celebrities should listen to their consciences, which undoubtedly are burdened by their profiteering from ultra-violent films targeting vulnerable youth. Thus, I echo Abraham Lincoln’s words to a conflicted nation, wherein he plead that society should “appeal to the better angels of our nature.” Similarly, the entertainment industry should redirect its collective creative brilliance to elevating and inspiring our children to achieve the highest ideals of humankind."

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/86557...ofits.html