Movie Mogul Harvey Weinstein Talks Gun Control
When it comes to backing and distributing films with controversial subject matters, Harvey Weinstein is the king. Just in the last few years his company The Weinstein Company, which he runs with brother Bob, has been responsible for titles like Black Swan, Blue Valentine, and Inglorious Basterds–just to name a few.
Weinstein, who’s known for being a loose cannon and saying what’s on his mind at any given time of the day released a few surprising statements about Hollywood and its advocacy and depiction of violence in cinema.
The former head of Miramax said that filmmakers, “can’t shrink our responsibility” for the depiction of violence in films, and the effects it has on society, especially in the wake of The Dark Knight Rises midnight screening shooting in Aurora, Colorado. Weinstein suggests that the responsibility to society shouldn’t stop with the filmmakers, saying, “If we don’t get gun-control laws in this country, we are full of beans,” stating to The Huffington Post via phone. “To have the National Rifle Association rule the United States of America is pathetic. And I agree with Mayor Michael Bloomberg: it’s time to put up or shut up about gun control for both parties. Mitt Romney better outline where he stands, and people know that I’m a firm supporter of the president and I believe he’s got to do the same.”
Weinstein, who is said to back president Obama in Greenwich, CT for a fundraiser didn’t comment on Barack’s stance on gun control but he did add where he falls on the presidential race saying, “I think he’s got deep personal beliefs. I don’t have to agree with everything a candidate does to support him.”
The most controversial comment to come from Harvey Weinstein who has strongly supported the taboo topics in the films he produces, suggests that violence in films do have some effects over mentally ill people like James Holmes. “It’s a question that I wrestle with all the time,” who has produced all of Quentin Tarantino’s gun touting gore films, in addition to the recent Django Unchained, “I’ve been involved with violent movies, and then I’ve also said at a certain point, ‘I can’t take it anymore. Please cut it.’ You know, you’ve got to respect the filmmaker, and it’s a really tough issue. My heart goes out to those kids and those families.”
Do you agree that filmmakers should take responsibility for the violence they put into films?
