Hollywood quiet so far on gun control after Connecticut shooting

Hollywood quiet so far on gun control after Connecticut shooting


LOS ANGELES - Pick a social cause and you'll often find a Hollywood celebrity speaking out. Gay marriage (Brad Pitt), Darfur (George Clooney), the environment (Robert Redford or Leonardo DiCaprio).

Gun control? Not so much.

Most of Hollywood's biggest action movie stars have remained silent, so far, on the divisive issue following last week's slaying of 20 young children and six adults at a Connecticut school. And pop culture experts say it's not hard to see why.

"If you are known for being a star who carries around weaponry and fires it, when something like this happens, the last thing in the world you want to do is insert yourself ... unless you say you are never going to star in another action adventure movie," Robert Thompson, professor of popular culture at Syracuse University, said on Monday.

Longtime gun control advocates like actress Susan Sarandon and "Bowling for Columbine" documentary director Michael Moore were quick to take to Twitter after Friday's Connecticut massacre, and tens of thousands of Americans have since signed online petitions urging appr oval of stri cter gun control laws.

Yet major action heroes Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Denzel Washington, as well as Pitt and Clooney, have had little or nothing public to say.

That may change, according to a veteran public relations executive who handles many Hollywood clients.

"I think there will be a very public display of outrage from prominent people in the entertainment world and people wanting to do something about guns," said the public relations chief who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak for his clients.

"I think the stereotypical Hollywood action star not wanting to touch an issue like this may be dated. There is a lot of talk about people wanting to express very public outrage. Let's see who joins, and how that manifests itself," he told Reuters.

Cruise in spotlight for 'Jack Reacher'

With Hollywood studios again under scrutiny for making violent movies, Paramount Pictures canceled Saturday's premiere in Pittsburgh of Tom Cruise's new film "Jack Reacher," in which Cruise plays a cold-blooded former military sniper.

In New York, the Lincoln Center Film Society postponed a Monday screening and conversation with Cruise "out of respect for the families who lost loved ones in Newtown, Connecticut," according to a statement.

"Jack Reacher," which opens with a sniper picking off and killing five apparently random targets on a riverfront promenade, is due to open in US movie theaters on Friday.

Cruise has said nothing publicly about the events in Connecticut.

But "Jack Reacher" director Christopher McQuarrie told entertainment industry website TheWrap.com that the actor played a key role in the decision to cancel the red carpet premiere in Pittsburgh - where much of the movie was shot.

"Tom and I insisted on it. Nobody should be celebrating anything 24 hours after a tragic event like that," McQuarrie told TheWrap on Monday.

On television, the Fox broadcast network pulled graphic trailers for its upcoming serial killer drama "The Following," and replaced Sunday episodes of animated shows "Family Guy" and "American Dad" to avoid what a network source called the airing of "any potentially sensitive content."

The finale of Emmy-winning drama "Homeland" - which included a massive car bomb scene - was preceded with a disclaimer warning that some scenes may be disturbing.

American pysche, not Hollywood, at fault?

Hollywood is often irked at movies and videogames being held to blame for the actions of Americans, some of them with mental health issues, who have run amok with guns in recent years.

"I think it's always unfair to single out the entertainment business for scrutiny. There is something deep in the American psyche that is much deeper than videogames or movie or records," the public relations executive said.

Despite the 12 people killed and 59 wounded by a gunman at a Colorado movie screening in July of "The Dark Knight Rises," the Batman movie went on to make more than $1 billion at the global box office and is the second most successful movie in the United States and Canada for 2012.

Thompson questioned how much influence celebrities wield when expressing their personal opinions - whatever the cause - and especially on an issue like gun control that raises such passion in the United States on both sides of the argument.

"It is much more likely that that kind of speaking out gets people to change their opinion about a celebrity, not an issue," Thompson said

Besides, he said, who cares what random stars think about events as emotive as the Connecticut killings?

"Celebrities weighing in after something like this is perceived by a lot of people as tacky. The idea of expecting (their) opinion to somehow make anything better or different is, I think, perceived by a lot of people as self-centered hubris," Thompson said. — Reuters


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Considering that George starred in "The American" where he plays an assassin who for a good portion of the film spends his time building a gun for his next kill - I don't think he's going to publicly comment. Would be too hypocritical. That doesn't mean that he might not express his thoughts privately.

No matter what roles he's played, I can't see any reason why he couldn't share his horror at what happened and his condolences.

I liked what the guy said in the interview quoted above: "The idea of expecting (their) opinion to somehow make anything better or different is, I think, perceived by a lot of people as self-centered hubris". Whenever I see tweets and statements made by celebrities about big events like this I really wonder if they genuinely care or if they're just saying what they know they have to say in order to maintain their image.

It's not about actors working, playing a role WORKING for a living, it's about people owning assault weapons. Why does anyone need a weapon that can fire ?????? bullets per second/minute whatever, no one needs to own/stockpile these type of weapons. Today I watched the news, and saw what all of you did, names, pictures, histories, of these young people that didn't deserve to die. I can't watch anymore, just break down and cry. Who gives a shit what actor did what!

Understandably.
If I was an american actress I wouldn´t say a word either.
Too many gun enthustiastics there.
Any negative statement would hurt the career.

Americans are the most armed people in the world and according to the news here: the type of automatic riffle, the shooter used, is selling more than ever after the shooting.

No wonder, because all the news start with the gun exhibition... over and over again we are remainded which types of guns were used in this massacre. What purpose does it serve?

Very sadly, it's almost always about making money.

Oh, and Quentin Tarantino's comment ending with the words 'Give me a break'! probably won't win him a huge number of friends. Just a tad inappropriate, wouldn't you say?...............

George Clooney does apparently oppose the NRA's trigger happy, loose policies, from what I've read.
Perhaps it would have been wise for his elderly publicist to make a supportive statement towards President Obama's promise & express his sorrow towards all victims at Sandy Hook. Maybe in due course.

After all, George Clooney passionately campaigned for his reelection. And the massive-skeletal framed wrestler even hosted a dinner party at her boyfriend's house compliments of Wolfgang Puke's culinary skills....

There's a FaceBook linked Sympathy Card petition here,
for anyone interested.



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@Joanna - thank you.
And a petition to reach the House of Representatives to add some stricter regulation. Yesterday when I Tweeted it had 235K signatures. Today almost 375K.

Taking in regard the 2nd Amendment of the US Constitution, some measures need to be applied to prevent so much gun violence in the US. Bill Clinton signed an assault weapons ban into law in 1994, but the measure expired a decade later when George W Bush was president.

Best in Category wrote: Americans are the most armed people in the world

True, but probably not relevant. Take a look at the death by shooting rates of the next heavily armed countries in the world compared to the US:
"on a per-capita basis, Yemen had the second most heavily armed citizenry behind the United States, with 61 guns per 100 people, followed by Finland with 56, Switzerland with 46, Iraq with 39 and Serbia with 38. France, Canada, Sweden, Austria and Germany were next, each with about 30 guns per 100 people"

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the type of automatic riffle, the shooter used, is selling more than ever after the shooting.

this is horrible!!! right what we don't need at all!!

damn money!!!

lucy wrote:It's not about actors working, playing a role WORKING for a living, it's about people owning assault weapons. Why does anyone need a weapon that can fire ?????? bullets per second/minute whatever, no one needs to own/stockpile these type of weapons. Today I watched the news, and saw what all of you did, names, pictures, histories, of these young people that didn't deserve to die. I can't watch anymore, just break down and cry. Who gives a shit what actor did what!

Unfortunately lucy, Lorna Doone brought up a very good point because the violence in the films they produce most definitely has an impact on the viewers and they have become more and more outrageous in their quest to "shock" their audiences. So Hollywood does have a certain amount of culpability for the violence on our streets, as a result. If you are conditioned to seeing violence on the tv daily or in the movie theaters, you become desensitized to that violence.

The video games that being sold are also part of the culture of violence that our children are being raised in; which are advertized with more "lifelike" figures brutalizing others or being brutalized themselves. It's no wonder that we have so many young, maladjusted, wounded people acting out. We don't raise our children to care about other people anymore and manners are something of the past. Instead, we are just relieved if they get through life mainly unscathed and that they weren't being bullied at school or outside the home. Most people have no idea how their children behave outside the home and would be very surprised to find that their little "johnny or susie" was taking part in the bullying at school. These walking wounded who end up violent don't happen in a vacuum, generally speaking.

Bloomberg made a superb statement last night, the key fact being that of all the industrialised countries of the world, the US is the one, by miles, with the highest number of gun crimes and gun deaths...I paraphrase, but the facts are inescapable....

Katiedot wrote:No matter what roles he's played, I can't see any reason why he couldn't share his horror at what happened and his condolences.

That is my feeling also. The victims of Newtown don't need a benefit or any money relief, but for any George fans there his condolences would have meant a lot.

I think so many actors are not talking about gun control because that is not the only issue. It is violence in media, access to fire arms and inadequate mental health facilities. All of these things contribute.

I also think some celebrities are not saying much because they do not want to look like they are trying to get publicity from this horrible event.

I agree on that

bunny wrote:I think so many actors are not talking about gun control because that is not the only issue. It is violence in media, access to fire arms and inadequate mental health facilities. All of these things contribute.

I also think some celebrities are not saying much because they do not want to look like they are trying to get publicity from this horrible event.

Yes, true, it's not a natural disaster nor war atrocities where a celebrity pledges support, but a serious, complex issue that needs government intervention for regulation.
Underlying is the perpetrator's mental illness (in all cases). Exacerbated by violent video games, films & music in the media. But the biggest culprit is accessibility of firearms to those who are potentially dangerous.