Hollywood's Affair with Guns

There has been a symbiotic relationship between firearms and movies since the beginning of the cinema industry.  D.W. Griffith said, "All you need to make a movie is a girl and a gun." From the very first Western to the fantasy films of today the gun has been center stage and remains the leading star in virtually very blockbuster and franchise film.

There is a lot of hypocrisy in the entertainment business. The glitterati all rant about the need for stronger and more severe gun control laws while at the same time starring in movie after movie where guns and violence are center stage.  The Hollywood/gun affair is so well established that it is almost inconceivable that it can come to an end any time soon.

The gun is ubiquitous in Hollywood movies, no genre is spared: film noir, horror, drama, gangster, super hero, thrillers, war or western, take your pick. With 70% of Hollywood's revenue now generated overseas the gun has gone viral in films. Movies have become high-impact over drama, action over narrative, fantasy over realism.  With over 300 million guns in the U.S. - about one for every person, you would think real gun violence would be rampant. Yet, in comparison to other reasons for deaths, guns are way down the list. The major cause of non-medical related deaths are drug related - prescription and ill-legal drug overdoses. In fact, more deaths are caused by bath-tub accidents than mass gun related killings.

It is the rare film that does not have some form of gun or other weapons violence, but that is the way it has been throughout the cinema's history. Is there is a causal link between screen violence and actual violence? Who knows. It can't be proven or disproved either way.

What I do know is that action and violence, high-impact, hero on a quest films generate movie ticket sales - the same films that have been generating admissions since Hollywood began and there is no end in sight.