Don't Get Between A Man And His Money

The Times delivers some Hollywood reaction to the notion that violent movies and video games are part of the cultural background that leads to mass shootings:

There is also a creeping dread in Hollywood that the entertainment industry will be drawn into a governmental crackdown on violent imagery. Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, said on Tuesday said that President Barack Obama — beyond hinting at new gun-control measures — planned to look at “other ways” to address this kind of violence. While he did not elaborate, Mr. Carney mentioned mental health, education and “perhaps” cultural issues as possibly contributing to gun violence

Mr. Carney also embraced a call by David M. Axelrod, the president’s election strategist, to rethink violent video games. “Every expert on this issue would, I think, agree with that, that there are cultural issues that contribute to the broader problem,” Mr. Carney said.

But there were already pockets of people in Hollywood pushing back on Tuesday — executives who maintain that, while tragic, the Newtown massacre had nothing to do with entertainment.

“What you hear from the industry is this: violence has always been a part of entertainment, back to Sophocles and Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe,” said Martin Kaplan, the director of the Norman Lear Center for the study of entertainment and society at the University of Southern California. “Why should modern entertainment deprive itself of a universal and timeless element of storytelling?’”

Mr. Kaplan continued, “Violence is both a moneymaker — audiences love it — and an artist’s tool. Of course, it can be gratuitous. For every Scorsese or Peckinpah, there’s a schlockmeister who’s only in it for the dough. But who do we want to empower to decide whether Quentin Tarantino or a Grand Theft Auto goes over the line? The government? The industry? Or the audience, which is where Hollywood wants to put the control.”

In other news, many tobacco executives are still puzzling over the link between smoking and cancer. Keep at it, boys!

But I have a serious thought here relating to audience, rather than government, control. Hollywood and Broadway spent years putting their creative talent into legitimizing and mainstreaming homosexuals. That was not a government sponsored program; it was inspired by the AIDS crisis and helped by the presence of so many gays in the creative community. And when a moviemaker got out of line the creative community was very sensitive to boycotts and criticism ('Silence of the Lambs' leaps to mind, and director Demme delivered the kiss and make-up 'Philadelphia' to re-establish his bona fides).

So, the path forward is obvious. None of these Hollywood libs own guns or need to worry about their personal protection (let their bodyguards pack!). So some combination of consumer shaming and mogul leadership might (might!) persuade Hollywood that guns are not cool. The good news is that much of Hollywood already thinks that guns are for the bitterly clinging rubes in flyover country. The bad news is, those rubes buy movie tickets. And video games.

This is tricky - obviously, someone like the ex-Governator is a bit of a flawed spokeperson for an anti-gun message. But it should not be impossible. Fans of The Maltese Falcon will recall that Bogie didn't carry guns, he just took them away from people who did. Patrick Jane, star of The Mentalist, has a character who pretty much curls up in the fetal position when guns are drawn.

Hollywood spent decades on their gay project, with excellent results. They could do the same thing here. Too bad they won't.

Comments

[Threadkiller]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMMp_llzBT4

[Danube of Thought]

Whatever they do won't make any difference.

[Thomas Collins]

I agree with DOT. Mass murderers won't be affected by Ahnuld promoting a responsible gun ownership video game.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

So they're going to ban violent video games but not Judd Apatow movies?
There is no justice.

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

It's not like Hollywood is a stranger
to the uses of propaganda.

[hit and run]

Bring back MacGyver.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Heh.

Sam Donaldson mug shot pending....

[Melinda Romanoff]

Lewes, DE DUI arrest, 12/1/12.

[matt]

Where does George Romero fit in? Starship Troopers? Cowboy movies?

The problem is in the home, not with inanimate objects or provocative content. The Left has been at war with the family for 50 years. This is the result.

Gangstas aged 15 because they're taught that they don't get the same rap in juvie. A system that attempts to medicate the mentally ill when those mentally ill don't want the SOMA. A system that calls the Ft. Hood massacre workplace violence. A media with the incredible ability to get it all wrong when reporting on these cases?

The typical American response is "do something". It doesn't matter what, just do something.

[NK]

TomM is en fuego today! TM's snark quotient is through the roof! Big Hollywood says regulate to death FinServ, oil & gas production and coal fired/nuke electric plants, and BAN ASSAULT WEAPONS (whatever they are) but don't mess with out visual slaughter!!! no.. no.. no! They are shameless scum. And their chief mouthpiece? Why scum-meister Chris Dodd himself. Mais bien sur.

[NK]

MelR-- did the Lewes PD make Sam remove his hairpiece for the mug shot, a la Marv Albert?

[Appalled]

I would love to see what current Hollywood would do if their ability to depict mayhem on screen were curtailed. Of course, Ignatz and I probably agree that many of the best movies were made during a time when Hollywood actually practiced some self-censorship of the sex/violence variety. (Then again, maybe not. Ignatz takes his name from a movie that does rather good job of upending the old Hayes Code).

Oh, by the way, I deal with two subjects dear to this group -- The Second Amendment and Chucky Schumer -- today at my own blog:

http://deathlessdialog.blogspot.com/2012/12/chucky-schumer-hearts-second-amendment.html

[Melinda Romanoff]

NK-

You have mail.

[Danube of Thought on IPad]

Riehl Report:

"Former ABC News political reporter Sam Donaldson was pulled over on Savannah Road by Lewes Police on December 1 for a traffic violation. An officer says that he’d been drinking. Donaldson failed field sobriety tests, and was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. He’s been scheduled for a court appearance at a later date."

[Janet]

I would love to see what current Hollywood would do if their ability to depict mayhem on screen were curtailed.

Has anybody heard from Mr. Nakoula lately? His "crude & disgusting" video whose "message must be rejected by all who respect our common humanity"....apparently WAS NOT the cause of Benghazi. What has happened to him?

[Captain Hate]

How can you tell when Donaldson is drunk? Does he take that greasy roadkill off his dome?

[pagar]

" A system that attempts to medicate the mentally ill when those mentally ill don't want the SOMA."

Is that why we have: "Dr. Mohammad Safi, 54, was paid more than $803,000 last year as a supervising senior psychiatrist at a Department of State Hospitals facility within Salinas Valley State Prison in Monterey County, records show."

http://www.thereporter.com/news/ci_22174984/californias-top-paid-public-employee-dr-mohammad-safi

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Appalled,
Self censorship, sometimes quaintly referred to as responsibility, helped make movies far more creative than they otherwise would have been, especially those like Miracle at Morgan's Creek.
Of course movies were made mostly for, and even more importantly, by, adults back then so the equation was quite different.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Sam broadcast "journalism" under the influence of something severely mind altering for years.
Apparently that is legal.

[centralcal]

Don't Get Between a Man and His Money

Did you see where Obama in endless campaign mode is using Newtown for his political fund raising?

[centralcal]

Janet, wasn't he sentenced to jail, ostensibly for some obscure parole violation?

[centralcal]

Janet: From wikipedia...

On September 27, 2012, US federal authorities stated Nakoula was arrested in Los Angeles for allegedly violating terms of his probation. Prosecutors stated that some of the violations included making false statements regarding his role in the film and his use of the alias "Sam Bacile".[12] On November 7, 2012, Nakoula pled guilty to four of the charges against him and was sentenced to one year in prison and four years of supervised release

.

[Danube of Thought on IPad]

Let us hope that as we speak someone is preparing a FOIA request for the police video of the field sobriety tests.

[NK]

DoT@1:13-- heh heh...

[NK]

Ig@1:07-- very true.

[Janet]

THanks, centralcal.

[Pofarmer]

And to think, homo sapiens never visited violence on one another before the advent of TV and Video games. People must really, really, really, not do history.

[Janet]

I guess Mr. Nakoula broke one of the laws we enforce. Not like illegal immigration, paying taxes, or anything like that.

[Extraneus]

I'd rather read about something that might help, like metal detectors.

[Jim Ryan]

Lewes, DE! I like Lewes! Sleepy town, a good seafood restaurant, and a cannon ball lodged in the side of one of the houses since 1812. You see, the British tried to hit Lewes, but the town is set well back from the beach and only one cannon ball made it all the way. It is lodged in the wall about two feet above the sidewalk and there is a little plaque telling about it. Have a lazy swim in the Bay or around the corner to the Fenwick beach, which is quite nice. Vibrant little league in Lewes, too.

[Rob Crawford]

I hear they used to quarantine the violently insane.

[Danube of Thought on IPad]

Interesting comments from Chuck U. Schumer, Appalled.

A couple of random thoughts: (1) when Holmes said the 1st Amendment does not protect one who shouts "fire" in a crowded theater, he did so in the course of upholding the imprisonment of people who had distributed anti-concsrition pamlhlets during WWI; ans (2) the Heller opinion goes no further than to hold that the 2nd Amendment prohibits a law denying citizens the right to have firearms in their residence for self-defense.

[Pofarmer]

"I hear they used to quarantine the violently insane."

You can't take their rights away like that.

[Rob Crawford]

"You can't take their rights away like that."

But mine and yours?

Pfft.

[Extraneus]

So who's been tapped to participate in the Biden task force? Anyone see any names?

[jimmyk]

OT, but a truly disgusting and unsurprising play by the SCOAMF on the fiscal cliff negotiations:

"After what we’ve gone through over the past several months, a devastating hurricane and now one of the worst tragedies in our memory, the country deserves the folks to be willing to compromise for the greater good."

[NK]

Chuckie Schumer man of constitutional reason and moderation? Feh!! he knows he has a weak hand getting any substantial gun laws passed, so like BarryI, for Chuckie this is all an exercise in making the EEEEvil Repubs look EXTREME!!!! he's just trying to bamboozle the muddle. Nothing new there.

[Rob Crawford]

So who's been tapped to participate in the Biden task force? Anyone see any names?

I suspect it will be staffed by recognized experts in the field. Rosie O'Donnell, Marg Helgenberger, Sen. Rockefeller...

[Extraneus]

Drudge:

Obama taps Biden to lead gun grab...

[Janet]

I guess Mr. Nakoula broke one of the laws we enforce....no censure or letter of reproval option.

[Rob Crawford]

I'm still amazed at how swiftly they moved on him. Every day violent felons post pictures of themselves violating their parole on Facebook and YouTube and nothing's done; Obama snaps his fingers and this guy's swept up in a late-night show of force.

Most frightening of all, to the utter silence of the press.

[NK]

RobC@216- completely agree. The cops grabbed a guy because a failed SCOTUS ordered it to win an election. Cronyism and tyranny-- BarryI's legacy.

[Captain Hate]

Non-violent crime too iirc. Even if he defrauded some people out of their jack, was it as bad as Corzine?

[daddy]

OT: Great News!

As part of a 5 year 11 Million Dollar study, Scientists have finally figured out What Beluga Whales Eat:

"Those whales have to eat something," said Jim Reist, a Department of Fisheries and Oceans biologist...

Science has never fully understood what made up the food source for the whales. Until now.

Team members found the cod in "huge concentrations." They also found the answer to what the beluga have been eating..."I was pleasantly surprised."

So Beluga Whales eat fish! Who'd a thunk it. Can't wait til they decide to find out where bears crap. That oughta's take what, 9 maybe 10 million and half a decade?

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--(2) the Heller opinion goes no further than to hold that the 2nd Amendment prohibits a law denying citizens the right to have firearms in their residence for self-defense.--

I believe that is incorrect.
The language was;

1. The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.

That explicit right is given as an example of several implicit ones.

[Janet]

Non-violent crime too iirc. Even if he defrauded some people out of their jack, was it as bad as Corzine?

great point, Captain.

[NK]

CaptH-- absolutely. Whatever filmmaker did, it was peanuts compared to Corzine.

[Danube of Thought on IPad]

You're right, Iggy. But my point is that they struck down a horribly restrictive statute, and left a hell of a lot of room for all sorts of restrictions by all levels of government.

[boatbuilder]

Is there any actual evidence, as opposed to rumor, speculation and conclusion-jumping, that this Lanza kid was under the influence of violent video games or movies?
I personally am bothered by gratuitous and explicit violence in TV and movies, and I don't think it is a good thing for teenage boys to play violent video games all day, but there are tens of millions of teenage boys playing video games and most of them don't kill any actual humans, let alone defenseless children. Are there video games that depict the murder of defenseless children as heroic?

[NK]

DoT-- I believe Iggy has acknowledged that there will be decades of litigation making angels dance on pinheads regarding the details of what restrictions are 'reasonable' under the 2nd.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--DoT-- I believe Iggy has acknowledged that there will be decades of litigation making angels dance on pinheads regarding the details of what restrictions are 'reasonable' under the 2nd.

Posted by: NK | December 19, 2012 at 03:03 PM--

Unless one of the Heller five dies while Barry is in office, in which case it will very quickly be gutted and suddenly Chuck Schumer will determine that it is perfectly reasonable to strictly emasculate one amendment while applying the others broadly.

[NK]

Ig@315- unfortunately that's all true.

[cathyf]

Forget Hollywood, forget videogames, forget guns -- the spree killers are clearly doing it to become (in)famous, so you have to go directly after journalism. Make it illegal for any radio, TV, newspaper, magazine, or the internet to ever divulge that a mass killing has taken place. The Chinese are really good at censoring Facebook, email, google, etc -- I bet our spies could steal their programs.

Guns don't kill people, journalists do.

[Clarice]

Apparently Hegel's out of the running for SecDef but not before that mendacious whore Robert Wexler endorsed him for that slot.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

If the reports are true that Lanza went off because his mother was attempting to have him committed, I would hope that would lead any sensible person to admit there is no stopping this sort of thing, unless we're going to allow summary detention of anyone who acts weird.

His mother could have locked every one of her guns in Fort Knox and he would simply have acquired some elsewhere or built a bomb and killed 150 people instead.

[Jane: Mock the Media]

You can't take their rights away like that.

That's the part that really pisses me off in this whole thing. Democrats long ago decided that being mentally ill is deserving of minority status - which hamstrung Nancy Lanza -if nothing else. CT, bowing to the civil liberties union specifically refused to give parents more power over their crazy kids a few weeks ago.

I don't think that helps anyone, particularly the mentally ill.

[Jane: Mock the Media]

Make it illegal for any radio, TV, newspaper, magazine, or the internet to ever divulge that a mass killing has taken place

How about we just say they can't use the killer's name?

[rse]

Iggy-lots of people forget Columbine became a mass shooting only after the original bomb plan failed. What they did was so awful it is easy to forget it is only a fraction of the horror they intended.

What I guessed would happen is showing up now in columns. It's not an issue of helping those with mental illness but making sure everyone is mentally healthy. Default then to the affective curricula.

Or this would not have happened in a culture that was not so individualistic so we need to make sure school builds up the bonds among us so we can build up community and a devotion to the common good. And oh yes it will be the same Dewey inspired Moral and Character Ed push I have tracked as Moral Competency and Performance Competency.

The solutions really do not vary but this appears to be another one of Rahm's crises that should be used for political gain against potential opponents and obstacles.

[Frau Hosenbrand]

"...mendacious whore Robert Wexler "

heh

[cathyf]

How about we just say they can't use the killer's name?

No, no, Jane, gotta have total censorship. It's for the children!

[lyle]

"For every Scorsese or Peckinpah, there’s a schlockmeister who’s only in it for the dough."

Oh, dear God. Did this odious weasel say this with a straight face?

[Melinda Romanoff]

New F&F crime scene story coming.-CBS

[Jack is Back (Again)!]

I guess Axelrod and Obama didn't raise quiet enough moolah during the election cycle to buy that little ranch house in Oahu. Now they are pulling the oldest form of extortion known to DC. Threaten new laws that may or may not cripple a particular industry or market and watch the lobbying dough roll on in. When you see the FEC reports on the latest fund-raising letter of The Won, look for amounts coming out of Hollywood and in particular the video game sector. They should be substantial.

[centralcal]

This is very interesting....

James Rosen ‏@JamesRosenFNC

#NEWTOWN: An NRA source tells Fox News its membership has surged by an average of roughly 8,000 new registrations a day since the massacre.

[centralcal]

James Rosen ‏@JamesRosenFNC

#NEWTOWN: An NRA source tells Fox News fundraising has also surged, w/ individual contribs./avg amounts both rising significantly.

[Danube of Thought on IPad]

Just heard from one of my best friends (my hunting partner and former law partner, now a high-end hedge fund guy). He was really distraught after the elections about the prospects of taxation in CA and L.A. in particular, and of course the feds.

He is going 100% Galt; just bought a house in Aspen and has put his Mandeville Canyon palazzo on the market.

[NK]

DoT-- there is alot of that going on, and more to come. The Progs will be shocked how fast the OPM dries up. Then the Bond Vultures pounce, then... DOOOOOMMMMMMM.

[Rob Crawford]

centralcal -- I've seen an interesting comparison of the current push for disarmament to the battle of Little Big Horn. Custer had no idea how large a force he'd be facing...

[Jack is Back (Again)!]

Just down the beach from me, in Painter's Hill, we have a North Atlantic Right Whaled beached. The Florida Fish and Wildlife people, along with NOAA are down there figuring out how to get it off the beach. There are only 400 of these beautiful creatures left. Every year between October and March we have organized volunteers keeping a constant eye out on the ocean for them. If you spot one, they call it in and the chopper comes out to photo it and record its movements, time, name,etc. Fun thing to do for a couple hours each week.

Driving back from lunch with Frederick and his friends we spotted all the satellite trucks parked along A1A and figured it was something at the beach. CF13 just now is running the story.

[Rob Crawford]

The Florida Fish and Wildlife people, along with NOAA are down there figuring out how to get it off the beach.

Helpful hint: don't use dynamite.

Or potted petunias -- though those usually accompany whales to the ground.

[narciso]

LOL, Rob, only when the improbability drive is engaged though.

[NK]

Gosh-- 2 Hichhiker's Guide to the Galaxy references... salud

[narciso]

Absurdity, is the only way to evaluate these events, there is no logical way any of this makes sense, Marty Kaplan, a Democratic hack
and screenwriter, giving the Lear pelf

http://www.dianawest.net/Home/tabid/36/EntryId/2347/Benghazi-White-Out.aspx

[narciso]

From the Wiki;

Kaplan served in the administration of President Jimmy Carter as chief speechwriter to Vice President Walter F. Mondale, and also as executive assistant to the U.S. Commissioner of Education, Ernest L. Boyer. As deputy campaign manager of Mondale's presidential race, he directed the campaign's speechwriting, issues, and research operations. He also worked with Boyer on education policy while a program officer at the Aspen Institute, a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution, and a senior advisor at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Subsequently he has credits for the 'Distinguished Gentleman' and 'Noises Off,
the first was about a conman turned congressman, he's also been a blogger at
the Huffington Post, and appeared on Air America, you can't find a more objective
source, anywhere

[LouP]

"... just bought a house in Aspen ..."

Talk about moving from the frying pan to the fire...

[DrJ]

Here's a WSJ article on robotic animals, one of which was cited by Coburn as a waste of taxpayer's money (which set off some discussions here). It might be behind the pay wall:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324020804578151583449719160.html?mod=ITP_AHED

[centralcal]

This sounds odd...

Sharyl Attkisson ‏@SharylAttkisson

Updated info to be added soon.ATF agent's personal weapon found at Mexican beauty queen cartel crime scene http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-34222_162-57560107-10391739/atf-agents-personal-weapon-found-at-mexican-beauty-queen-cartel-crime-scene/?tag=socsh … via @CBSNews

-------

His "personal weapon?"

[Jack is Back (Again)!]

narciso,

Also a close friend of Bob "belt and suspenders" Beckel. Another "look squirrel" moment.

[narciso]

Did she throw herself under the bus, it's getting crowded down there;

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-34222_162-57560026-10391739/state-dept-officials-resign-following-benghazi-report/

[Jack is Back (Again)!]

When Obama picked Uncle Joe to handle this crazy gun rights issue, he picked the right man.

Back in 2008, Biden, on the stump in Virginia invoked his right to own his shotgun and Berreta including "If Obama comes after my Berreta we have a problem"

h/t Indy

[NK]

BarryI/Biden-- what a bunch of clowns... disgraceful clowns... but clowns.

[narciso]

No, it's more like when Herb let Homer design his new car, an utter diszster for all involved.

[henry]

Property tax bills are in the mail, on average up less than 1% in WI. Credit given to Walker and the infamous Act 10 provisions. My tax bill went down 2% -- thanks Scott!

[Jack is Back (Again)!]

Hmmmm!

Pat Leahy has turned down Appropriations in order to stay at Judiciary. Tell-tale that someone is leaving the SCOTUS and he will chairing the replacement? Now this is big news.

[NK]

Ginsberg

[Jack is Back (Again)!]

NK,

Another reason to get the guns off the street. Think the fiscal cliff or Benghazi has been loopy or gun control? Wait until they try to tilt the SCOTUS. Bork will be a faint memory after this donnybrook.

[narciso]

Why would you go on that show, it would be like teaching a fish about air;

http://washingtonexaminer.com/media-to-gop-you-want-our-children-to-be-assassinated/article/2516389?custom_click=rss#.UNI71ncmIsw

[LouP]

Has anyone heard anything more about how Adam Lanza got into that school? I've heard that the school was using the latest "protocols" (whatever that is, but it doesn't sound like real security). I heard that he broke the glass, and some say that he shot the glass. I've not heard a thing more.

If he could simply approach the front door with $4.95 claw hammer, break the glass, and gain entry, it must have been one hell of piss-poor security system. Surely it was better than that, but I've seen nor heard of any evidence to the contrary.

Anyone know more?

[RichatUF]

Evening all. On my way to my secret undisclosed location.

And not a moment too soon. Good grief, glad I gave up television and cable.

[Jack is Back (Again)!]

LouP,

Reports I saw said he shot out the window.

[narciso]

Well we discovered a planet around Tau Ceti,

[narciso]

I think he's on to something there;

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/allanmassie/100067545/only-two-things-prevent-us-from-killing-other-people/

[rse]

narciso-who is Kaplan? cuz I know exactly who Boyer is and none of that is good.

[LouP]

I almost hate to bring up this subject, because Obama will undoubtedly want to use it to plug Obamacare, but I find it really strange that so few of the "experts" in the mental health community have spoken up.

Here we have thousands and thousands of psychologists, psychiarts and other forms of psych-somethings, all of them certified, accredited, and well-credentialed, well fed and well paid, and when something like this happens 99% of them go to mush. I'm sure it must be a whole lot easier to sit across from a patient and assure him/her that all their troubles are someone else's fault. We've been assured that autism and this or that label does not apply, but no one in that field wants to tell us what it is. As you can probably gather I have very little use for the profession (note I deliberately used "profession," not "expertise").

Don't they owe us some answers, or just some good insight? Without the platitudes, and psycho-babble?

[narciso]

The hack expert, absolving violent media, of responsibility in the Times piece

[Melinda Romanoff]

Kaplan's Bride, the unmade sequel to Bride of Frankenstein. Soon to be filmed in a Foggy Bottom.

[Extraneus]

Joe Manchin: ‘I’m so proud of the NRA’

“I’m not supporting a ban on anything. I’m supporting a conversation on everything,” Manchin said on West Virginia MetroNews.

Some of our more jaded posters might advise caution re: taking this with more that a few hundred thousand grains of salt.

[Janet]

narciso's 4:24 link is great. West on the Benghazi report.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Ex-

I'm surprised he could enunciate that around the salt block he uses for chaw.

[Extraneus]

Maybe we should follow France's lead. Didn't they just jail a psychiatrist for a patient committing murder?