Hollywood stars signs pledge to control on-screen gun violence
Over 200 members of Tinseltown’s best and brightest have signed a pledge promising to portray guns in a responsible way onscreen.
A batch of writers, actors, producers and directors — including Jimmy Kimmel, Mark Ruffalo and Amy Schumer — have endorsed an agreement titled #ShowYourSafety for Brady United.
The organization is a gun-safety lobby launched in 1981 after Jim Brady, Ronald Reagan’s White House Press Secretary, was shot by a gunman who was attempting to assassinate the former president.
“Hollywood has modeled positive culture change before: Seatbelt use, smoking, teen pregnancy, marriage equality,” the company explained on its website Monday. “Now, as America’s gun violence epidemic worsens, is the time to undertake a responsibility in storytelling depicting firearms and gun safety.”
Other A-listers who notarized their signature include Debbie Allen, Judd Apatow, Betsy Beers, Adam Brody, Shonda Rhimes, Adam McKay, Liz Tigelaar, Chris Van Dusen, Krista Vernoff, Julianne Moore and many more.
The petition does not ask Hollywood to rid of guns and gun violence on TV and film completely, but for creatives to be “mindful” of onscreen weapons and how they are depicted.
The pledge implored “America’s storytellers” to entertain audiences, but also to “acknowledge that stories have the power to effect change.”
“Guns are prominently featured in TV and movies in every corner of the globe, but only America has a gun violence epidemic,” the memo went on. “The responsibility lies with lax gun laws supported by those politicians more afraid of losing power than saving lives. We didn’t cause the problem, but we want to help fix it.”
The organization also laid out some ground rules and suggestions to illustrate firearms wisely on the silver screen.
One idea they suggested was to have at least one discussion during pre-production regarding the way guns will be shown.
Another possibility was for producers to consider alternatives that could be used without “sacrificing narrative integrity.”
Scenes involving kids and weapons could also be limited, as well as showing consequences for careless gun utilization.
The open letter also asked Hollywood members to demonstrate responsible gun ownership and reckless firearm use for adult characters.
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