American movies and TV shows are packed full with guns and bombs. Directors and producers film these weapons as if they were the provenance of brave men and women. Cameras linger on barrel shafts and stocks, as if bestowing gravitas upon these dead metal items. The reality is that guns and bombs are the instruments of cowards. People who hide behind these technological bringers of death and despair are never heroes. I have long suspected the gun lobby and industry of being in bed with Hollywood on some level. The sheer prevalence of gun placement in American movies is overwhelming to say the least. These are, in the main, stupid stories about stupid people shooting each other in scenes of ever-more graphic violence. Action films as a genre simply means lots of loud guns and bombs going off in virtually every scene of the movie. The ridiculousness of films like John Wick and its sequels are beyond words, and the ability of an American hero to avoid being shot dead by literally scores of highly armed professional killers is nothing short of miraculous. What are these graphic demonstrations of gun driven murder and mayhem saying to their audience and the world?
Imagine if Actors Said No to Making Movies with Lots of Guns
Perhaps they tell an audience that these weapons work exceedingly well on everybody, including women and children, except for rare highly paid action film movie stars. Do these very well-paid actors have a responsibility to their fellow human beings beyond what their producers, agents, writers and directors might tell them? Many of these celebrity performers appear elsewhere in the media as concerned citizens for the plight of animals or the environment. They do not, however, refuse scripts for violent action films which revel in displays of shooting and bombing. Imagine if actors with a conscience, who were sick of the violence perpetuated via gun shooting massacres in America and elsewhere, actually took a stand against movies featuring guns. Imagine if these brave actors were joined by the techs and everyone else associated with making movies in saying we are sick of all these films about gun violence and bombing. If together they took a united stand against a movie industry riddled with stories and scenes displaying wanton violence committed with guns and bombs.
Kids Idolise Actors Who Portray Heroes on Film
Kids and young people idolise actors who portray heroes on film. It is a shame that the majority of these actors do not have the spine to stand up to an industry with very few real things to praise. The entertainment business has recently been rocked by the Me Too Movement, which shone a light on sleazebag producers like Harvey Weinstein and his sexual abusing of starlets and the like. The misuse of power in situations like this is sickening and has been a big part of Hollywood for eons. Guns and penises are the instruments of cowards, it seems in the movies. Domestic violence and sexual abuse remain huge societal problems everywhere and does Hollywood have a responsibility to tell stories that contain these themes with some degree of honesty and integrity?
In too many American films the solution to problems invariably seems to be in the form of a gun. Supernatural agencies eventually succumb to the might of automatic weapons, as do aliens from more technologically advanced worlds. Hollywood script writers are either in the pay of the gun lobby or just too shallow to find any other solution. The movie business is a sleazy shallow realm and it has been able to go about peddling violence and stupidity unhindered for too long. Do we in Australia and in other countries really want this vile gun culture to be shown off in cinemas and our living rooms? We all know that these stories bear no resemblance to the reality of what guns and bombs really do to human beings and families. Do we really want these tiresome action stars like Silly Stallone, Arnie, and all the others shooting off their big guns ad nauseum? Bruce Willis go have a nice lie down. All these old white guys should really stay home at the retirement village. Guns and bombs are the instruments of cowards. Terrorists are cowards blowing up unsuspecting people wherever they can. Americans who carry guns are cowards believing that they need automatic weapons to protect themselves at home. What are the police for? In most other countries the police protect their citizens from trouble and danger. They have an easier job of it because we do not allow our citizens to legally carry firearms. Talk about stupid is as stupid does. Guns kill people and movies about guns killing people, movies that revel in showing scenes of guns killing people, promote death and violence.
©Robert Hamilton