Sunday, December 23, 2012

An Open Letter to Jamie Foxx, Paul Rudd, Michelle Jamie Foxx,Williams, Jennifer Aniston, John Legend, Will Ferrell and Jason Bateman, among others who teamed up with DEMANDAPLAN.ORG to create a video in which you reel off a list of shootings that have occurred in America in recent years, and urge viewers to seek solutions to stem the tide of violence: You guys don't go far enough, please LISTEN TO ME HERE!

Dear Jamie Foxx, Paul Rudd, Michelle Jamie Foxx,Williams, Jennifer Aniston, John Legend, Will Ferrell, Jessica Alba, Rashida Jones,  Julia Luis-Dreyfus, Carey Mulligan, Beyonce, Jeremy Renner, Amy Poehler, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman, John Slattery, Selana Gomez, Jon Hamm, Chris Rock, Conan O'Brien
Jon Hamm, Christina Applegate, Zooey Deschanel, Steve Carell, John Legend and Ellen DeGeneres -- and 70 others VIP celebrities -- each then say a few words to make up the PSA's message that "now is the time" for Americans to stand up and demand change to insure there will be "no more lists of names" of massacre victims.
, and Jason Bateman, among others who have teamed up with www.DEMANDAPLAN.ORG to create a video in which you reel off a list of shootings that have occurred in America in recent years, and urge viewers to seek solutions to stem the tide of violence: The video is great, BUT you guys don't go far enough, please LISTEN TO ME HERE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=64G5FfG2Xpg

In the wake of the Sandy Hook Christmas Massacre in Newtown, Connecticut that left dozens dead last week, you have assembled to highlight the subject of gun violence and seek solutions to the growing plague.
BUT your video does not go far enough! If you are really serious about stopping gun violence in America, then you might read this open letter and think about joining my crusade to get the MPAA and CEO Chris Dodd and the entire Hollywood community of producers, writers and directors -- AND ACTORS -- to think about getting rid of all gun handling and gun firing scenes in all future movies made in America!

There I said it. You guys have some responsibility here because you act in these violent movies, well, some of you do, and you are part of the problem, too. You should join my campaign to ask Hollywood to stop putting scenes of people using guns, handling guns and firing guns in all future movies you make. If you do not agree with gun violence, my friends, do not appear in a movie with scenes of guns being handled or guns being fired. Period. See?

Sure, the first step is legal laws to end this craziness in America. But at the same time, on the cultural front, you men and women as actors and actresses have a role to play here: You can refuse to appear in future movies that show scenes of guns being handled or fired. Will you join me in my OPEN LETTER to MPAA chief Chris Dodd?

Will your careers suffer if you refuse to make movies with gun scenes in them? Maybe a bit, but you can find creative ways to work around this. I am sure you can. And I am sure your agents and managers will support you, too. If they don't, fire them and hire a new team. We cannot just make videos and say we are against violence and crazy gun laws in America -- that is, the lack of sane gun laws in the USA -- we must also take a stand as writers, directors, producers and actors to say "I will no longer agree to appear  in movies in the future which include scenes of guns being handled or fired. And I will lobby Chris Dodd and the MPAA to act on this idea, too."

So, Jamie, Paul , Michelle , Jennifer , John , Will , Jason , and the others who appeared on the video, will you joing me? Will you take a real, personal, strong stand and join my crusade? I cannot do it without you. Please join me, in any way you can. I am all ears.

Sincerely,

Dan Bloom
social activist,
Tufts 1971 grad -- friend of producer Steve Tisch who went to school with me there 1967-1971
bikolang@gmail.com

PS: Some commenters have said things like this about your video; what's your respons?:

''Anyone notice that most of these entertainers have plugged their violent movies? And Jamie Foxx just oheed & awed over the fact he kills white people in his new movie on SNL."

"Beyonce is married to a man who made a fortune off of glorifying crime, gun violence, drug sales and use, and murder in his songs."

''I demand that the entertainment industry joins the plan and stops glamorizing violence and gangs. I want to see a list of "stars" who will join and say they will no longer sing songs or act in movies where people are murdered for entertainment value and used as human shields or caste off as collateral damage. When you will join that list, then as a society we have a chance. ''


So, Jaime Foxx, currently starring in one of the most egregious
examples of murder porn in the last 25 years, wants gun control? Hilarous. Down the rabbit hole. Doesn't this cause even the slightest cognitive dissonance for you people? Never mind.



3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Elaine
@kmddoss

@leinadmoolb

The only way Hollywood will listen is when they lose money. Maybe if we stop supporting violent movies ?

Anonymous said...

http://www.fieldandstream.com/files/imagecache/photo-article/photo/23/grindhouse.jpg

Anonymous said...

THE HEAT IS ON: Gun use in Hollywood movies is up, despite studio policies to police them, study finds



THE HEAT IS ON: Gun use in Hollywood movies is up, despite studio policies to police them, UC study finds


PHOTO: A PG-rated "live action and animated movie" is among movies found to have more than 50 portrayals of gun handling and guns being fired. (Rounder Pictures)

By Fritz Morgen
Southern Connecticut Daily Ledger



December 25, 2012




Film characters are handling guns and firing them more on the big screen, and studios that
have pledged to clamp down on such portrayals remain among the worst
offenders, according to a new study. This, despite news of the recent Sandy Hook Christmas Massacre of 2012 in Connecticut, where some Hollywood chiefs have homes.
There were nearly 1,900 portrayals of guns being handle or being fired among the 134 highest-grossing films at the box office in 2012,
according to researchers at the University of Connecticut.



The total number of "gun incidents" per movie was up 7% from 2011.
Among films rated G, PG, or PG-13, and thus more easily accessible to
younger audiences, that figure increased 36%, the UC researchers added.



Among the PG-13-rated picture with more than 50 on-screen tobacco
portrayals were period pieces from DreamWorks Studios, Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox . The only PG-rated release in that
category was an animated film from Rounder Pictures.



UC professor of cinema studies Martin Savage said the consequence of

more on-screen gun portrayals will be "more kids starting to buy and use guns for violent missions and and developing gun-induced and violence-induced diseases."



Warner Bros. parent company Time Warner, Universal parent Comcast

Corp. and Walt Disney Co. all have established policies to reduce the

portrayals of guns in their films, according to the UC researchers.

However, those three studios had just as many "gun incidents per

youth-rated movie" as the three studios without such policies,

Paramount, Fox and Sony Pictures.



The study was funded by the American Life and Health Foundation, a public
health group dedicated to reducing gun use among young people as the battle over gun control in America heats up.