He intervened in a relationship that was far from perfect but he should have stayed out of it. Then, he tried to blame Hugh Hefner and Playboy for it.
Posted on 07/26/2012 8:21:25 AM PDT by CHRISTIAN DIARIST
Peter Bogdanovich, the legendary director, has broken ranks with his Hollywood brethren. He may never eat lunch in that godless town again.
In a disarmingly-honest first-person jeremiad appearing in the August 3 issue of the Hollywood Reporter, the auteur known for such films as “The Last Picture Show,” “Paper Moon” and “Mask” indicts the motion picture industry for playing a role in last week’s massacre in Colorado.
“People go to a movie to have a good time,” said Bogdanovich, “and they get killed.”
“At first,” he noted, some of those watching the massacre unfold inside the theater, “thought it was a part of the movie. That’s very telling.”
The director lamented, “Violence on the screen has increased ten-fold. It’s almost pornographic… It’s all out of control. I can see where it could drive someone crazy.”
Bogdanovich wasn’t just ranting in the wake of tragedy. He was speaking truth.
Indeed, Ameirca’s youth are inured to violence through saturation exposure to violence-laden movies, like “The Dark Knight Rises,” as well as television shows and video games.
Before the average American child even finishes elementary school, he or she will view 100,000 acts of violence just on TV, including some 8,000 murders. And when they become old enough to go to the movies without their parental units, they’ll see even more ersatz violence.
Of course, most of Bogdanovich’s Hollywood brethren (and sistren) will strenuously object to suggestions that the violence and mayhem they are putting on the screen has any effect whatsoever on mass murderers like 24-year-old James Holmes.
But there is prima facie evidence of the influence Hollywood has on the hoi polloi.
All the way back in 1934, Columbia Pictures released “It Happened One Night,” a romantic comedy starring Clarke Gable and Claudia Colbert. In one memorable scene, Gable took of his shirt and revealed his bare chest.
In so doing, the actor inspired millions of American men to abandon their undershirts, temporarily devastating the nation’s T-shirt manufacturers.
More recently, there was the 1982 science fiction movie, “E.T.,” starring young Henry Thomas and a very young Drew Barrymore. In one noteworthy scene, the character played by Thomas lures an extraterrestrial out of hiding by dropping Reese’s pieces on the ground.
For months, Reese’s pieces were the most popular candy in America.
Warner Bros., the movie studio that released “Dark Knight Rises,” did not cause the bloodshed in Colorado last week. I still maintain that young man Holmes was operating under demonic influence.
But Warner’s certainly contributed.
In the previous installment of its Batman franchise, the most compelling character was not Batman, the good guy, but the Joker, who delighted in murder and mayhem.
That clearly was an inspiration to Holmes, who went so far before his real world killing spree as to dye his hair red in worshipful tribute to Warner’s evil-doing character.
I was shocked in the late 1970s or early 1980s when Hollywood discovered the ‘double tap’, I feared the massive street shootings of the era would start reflecting this visually cool, cold, ruthless, (and effective) practice, and it did.
At a time when Houston was getting between 500 and 700 murders a year, the double tap started showing up in street crime after street crime, Hollywood introduced finishing off the wounded, to urban incompetent, but brutal street criminals.
“It's a hell of a thing, killing a man. Take away all he's got and all he's ever gonna have.”
*****
“Well, sir, you are a cowardly son of a bitch! You just shot an unarmed man!”
“Well, he should have armed himself if he's going to decorate his saloon with my friend”
**************
The bodies were not even cold yet before those with an axe to grind started grinding the axe over their dead bodies.
Guns. Movies. Culture. Whatever. Never let a crisis go to waste I guess.
I find it sickening.
Crazy people are crazy. And they were crazy long before movies and guns. When a crazy person takes it into their head that they want to kill a lot of people some fools who think laws and regulations are going to stop them are crazy.
When we were kids, we would sing some of the most violent songs about blowing up the school, killing teachers, etc. One example:
To the tune of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the burning of the school
We have tortured all the teachers - we have broken all the rules
We went to the office and we hung the principal
Our truth is marching on!
Glory, glory, hallelujah
My teacher hit me with a ruler
I shot her in the head with a loaded .44
And she ain’t our teacher no more
And yet somehow we didn’t grow up to become psychotic murderers
see post 16.
We had one that got into the gruesome details of body decomposition. All I remember anymore is the worms eating your eyes, can’t even remember what we were filking. But yeah, we had some brutal stuff.
He is a freak...smarmy as hell in his interviews.
he was almost 30 years her senior and wanted some young tail...i mean who doesn’t?
but resisting those urges are what makes a man of character or not
he married Dorothy’s little sister right after that...what a piece of work
before all this he had an affair with Cybill Shepherd ..half his age.. that broke up his then marriage
he’s a Polanski and epitomizes whaty is wrong in Hollywood and the destructiveness it’s wrought upon our culture
his unabashed hypocrisy in chastizing that which he is guilty of himself is hubris...chutzpah...whatever
a turd
though i like Last Picture Show a bit as a kid
CAN’T DISAGREE WITH YOUR POST.
CAN’T DISAGREE WITH YOUR POST. I PUT IN A LOT OF GAME TIME DUE TO BAD TV AND BEING HOME BOUND. I ALSO DO OTHER THINGS BUT BELIEVE TOO MUCH OF ANYTING IS NOT GOOD. SOME KIDS ARE GETTING 60 HOURS OF TV A WEEK. SAD
Roman gladiator arenas were pretty violent...pretty sure they didn’t have Hollywood back then.
Point being, human nature, at its basest form, is violent. Violent, ruthless, selfish, and given to incredible sin at a moments notice. All of human history plays out as one long violent movie.
We just get better at covering it up over the years - so when the mask drops it seems more uglier than ever. There’s nothing new under the sun, indeed - our nature hasn’t changed, we’ve just created new ways to showcase it.
Then it should be happening all the time, every day.
He was ignored because it’s a load of horse crap.
The person who bears 100% responsibility for the crimes committed is James Holmes.
That is all.
Thanks for the information. I really love your footnote. Unfortunately it may be necessary to use it for many years to come.
I don't get it. Living where you do, what do you have against the Ewings?
Hollywood promotes smoking as well - - it has for decades. Yet they are not called to accountability.
If you could sell tickets for cinema #9 with the guarantee of safety, what would the public pay?
Assuming you don’t know, the “JR” is John Roberts.
I assumed that was the JR in question. I was just trying, (failing, but trying), to make a Dallas joke. I guess I should forget about my Jim Ross of WWE and Jerry Rice comments.
Dare I say we should put a $2000 stamp tax and a Class 13 licensing requirement on the most violent films (machine-films, if you will)?
You've never taken a statistics course, have you?
Here are a couple of phrases you might want to look up:
1. Critical mass
2. Tipping point.
1. Critical mass- James Holmes is responsible for the crimes he planned then committed.
2. Tipping point- James Holmes is responsible for the crimes he planned then commited.
Any questions?
Have a good day.
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