Legendary Director: What If Violent Movies Are Part of the Problem?
In remarks that appear at The Hollywood Reporter, film director Peter Bogdanovich discusses the Colorado theater massacre, The Dark Knight Rises, and violence in film. Among his remarks, this:
Back in the '70, I asked Orson Welles what he thought was happening to pictures, and he said, "We're brutalizing the audience. We're going to end up like the Roman circus, live at the Coliseum." The respect for human life seems to be eroding. . . .
Very few people have experienced murder directly. Generally speaking, the average person hasn't experienced it, and the average director hasn't experienced it. I think if they had, they would make films differently.
We had a murder in our family when Dorothy was killed, and I can't begin to describe how horrible it is. It's too easy to show murders in movies now. . . . There is a general lack of respect for life . . . .
That a Hollywood figure such as Bogdanovich also expresses his animus for the work of the National Rifle Association is to be expected.
Unexpected is his willingness to think outside of the Hollywood box to consider the negative impact that violence in film may have upon society today.
