As screen violence rises, so do new tactics to curb it

Many say education, not more regulation, is the right approach to finding common ground among Hollywood, politicians, and parents.

from the February 23, 2007 edition

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"The emerging common ground in this debate is to develop widespread media literacy, to stop reducing complex kinds of entertainment into simplistic political positions that can't and should not be reduced to easy labels of conservative versus liberal," says Peter Lehman, director of the Center for Film, Media and Popular Culture at Arizona State University in Tempe. "The important thing for us to do as a country and as educators is to hold ourselves to our own standards.... Don't dump it on Hollywood or producers and studios, but [let's] realize it is our job to be active, critical evaluators."

Active engagement is the ongoing credo of Act One, a program targeted at Christians who want to work in entertainment.

"For years many have felt Hollywood was not an appropriate place to participate," says screenwriter Chris Riley, who runs the writing program at Act One. "As a result, there is this big gulf. But we can't blame Hollywood for that. We Christians who abandoned Hollywood have to blame ourselves."

Since the program was founded in 1999, Mr. Riley says some 400 graduates have begun to make their way into the industry as trained writers. Key to the program's strategy is targeting every level of the industry, including executives.

The movie industry could also make changes, he adds. "I would love Hollywood to think in terms of the ethics of entertainment in the same way there is an ethics of journalism or medicine or law."

He is not suggesting a list of rules, rather a code: "It would be something that says we're creating product that has an impact on our audience. So, like doctors, first we should do no harm."

A move towards more personal responsibility is urgently needed, says Ken Ferree, former head of the FCC's media bureau. "The entire structure of government regulation of media on virtually every platform is in danger of total collapse within 10 years," he says. "The courts have been ferociously protective of the First Amendment when it comes to new platforms. Every time the FCC tries to go there with new regulations, the courts slap them down. This trend reflects a deeply held societal bias that everyone should be free."

As in most corners of Hollywood, creative independence is an article of faith on the Chatsworth, Calif., set of FOX's primetime thriller, "24." The show reportedly has come under fire from West Point instructors who object to the show's continuing depiction of torture during interrogations. Attempts to make the show follow a set of rules are misguided, says actor James Morrison, standing in front of blinking monitors. He plays the director of the show's counterterrorism unit. "People know the difference between fiction and reality. We have to respect our audience and trust their good sense," he says.

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