The State of The Crow 2000 Part II: McCain Takes On The Studios

No doubt, many of you have heard about the efforts of Senator John McCain, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Senator McCain, along with some other political giants in Washington DC, has decided to take on the major film studios and hold them accountable for advertising rated R movies to children under the age of 17. On Sept 27th of this year, eight of Hollywood's top executives appeared before Senator McCain and his committee. Senator McCain grilled the execs for about two hours. His goal was to get them to agree not to target kids under 17 in ads for rated R movies. The majority of the studios could not or would not make that promise. They cited movies such as "Schindler's List", "Green Mile", and "Saving Private Ryan" as examples of movies that are rated R, yet can and should be viewed by persons under the age of 17. Senator McCain bristled at these examples and said, on the whole, the majority of R rated movies (he used 98%) should not be seen or marketed to kids. In theory, I agree with him on targeting kids 10 and under in the marketing of an R rated movie. However, is it not up to me what my child does and doesn't see? Ultimately, it is going to come down to the studios policing themselves. If they do not, Senator McCain and his Gestapo is going to do it for them. I hope the studios take measures to keep Senator McCain out of our free rights. There have been comments made by Senator McCain, to the effect, that if the studios don't clean up their act, he will be forced to create legislature that will ensure marketing to kids is not done. This would directly effect the content of movies. Films that fall under the same genre as "The Crow" would be in danger of either being watered down or pushed into non-existence due to fears by the studio of reprisal from the government. McCain's committee meets again in March 2001 to review just launched FTC operations to monitor the movie industry. If they are not satisfied, we may not see "The Crow: Lazarus" or any other Crow movie for that matter. In a recent Entertainment Weekly article, McCain was quoted as saying, "I'd love to be the Super Censor". He went on to say, "I'd love to sit and watch movies every day and say which ones are suitable and which ones are not. But I believe in the First Amendment. So I don't have any legislation in mind right now. I don't know what we'll do." This is a frightening statement to me. Although he says that he believes in the First Amendment, there is the underlying threat that he will compromise its principles in order to dictate to the movie studios. Senator McCain has admitted that he has not seen the majority of R rated movies that he is denouncing as unsuitable for marketing to children. Here is another interesting piece of information. Al Gore and Joel Lieberman have described violent movies as "cultural pollution". Yet Mr. Gore has publicly acknowledged enjoying movies like "The Matrix". A curious admittance since that particular movie is held by many as evidence that Hollywood is glamorizing violence to children. Does anyone remember what Mr. Gore's wife, Tipper, did a few years back? She and some other ladies decided that there was a need to dictate to the music industry what they could and could not sell to kids. They brought in musicians and record execs and grilled them, much like what Senator McCain is doing to the movie execs now. In the end, concessions were made and the parental sticker was born. Who is to say that Tipper will not jump on this current bandwagon if her husband is elected President? If she felt the power as the wife of a Senator to dictate for everyone, surely she will really feel her oats if she is the First Lady. The thought makes me shudder.

The way I look at it, Senator McCain and Mr. Gore are allowed to decide for themselves what movies they and their families will see. Can I not have that same freedom as well? If the studios do not bow to the demands of McCain, he will surely bring in stiff legislation to ensure HIS dictate is met. Are we going to sit back, without putting up a fight, and allow a man who admittedly says he would not mind being a "Super Censor" decide what kinds of movies are made? The studios were not taking Senator McCain seriously at first. I think it is time for all of us to take him seriously. It all falls into the lap of the film studios. Are they willing to compromise in certain areas? I hope they are giving this much consideration. Otherwise, we could be looking at the end of rated R entertainment as it exists today. With that, we could also see the end of Crow movies as they exist today.

Coming up next, 'The State of The Crow 2000 Part III: What Is On The Horizon

Take care

LLcruize