"The conviction of the American people is that mass media play some role in the unhappiness and some-times the dangerous behavior of our kids," asserted Michael Medved. “That conviction has remained unshakable for a very simple reason – it is true."

Medved, one of the nation’s premier conservative social critics, addressed a captive audience during the most recent Union Forum luncheon event held on the university’s campus April 14.

While the mass media continue to downplay their own role in the troubles of our children, Medved insists that Hollywood straddles the fence on this common sense idea.

“We would like to think that hours in the classroom have some impact, not just on a child’s skills but on a child’s values. But how can we suggest that 800 hours of classroom time is going to influence kids but 1,500 hours of watching TV has no influence?” Medved questioned in an effort to contradict this absurd notion.

And how does the entertainment industry respond to these concerns of Americans? Medved pointed out that they do nothing, but say a lot, including three big lies. He explained the three lies and suggested ways that concerned Americans can respond.

In response to criticism about the influence media have on society, industry leaders are quick to point out that it is merely harmless entertainment and does not influence anyone. Medved indicated that this lie is the best example of Hollywood contradicting itself.

“They are lying,” he proclaimed. “They know it’s not just harmless entertainment. They know that messages have an impact on people, and there is no such thing as message-free entertainment.”

Citing a debate for the American Film Institute in which he was involved several years ago, Medved recalled the rebuttal by the president of an entertainment conglomerate that included Warner Brothers. “He said, ‘The trouble with people like Michael Medved is they always blame us for the bad things we do, but they never give us credit for all the good things we do’,” Medved recounted.

The industry executive went on to give an example from Lethal Weapon III that he believed to be influential. The scene showed Danny Glover and Mel Gibson fastening their seat belts prior to racing off in a high-speed chase. “The suggestion is that three seconds of seat belt fastening is going to instantly inspire imitation from everyone in America who sees this movie,” Medved explained, “but the rest of the film – all of which is about gunshot and knife wounds, bro-ken glass and car crashes – nobody is going to imitate.”

Similarly, other entertainment representatives know the potential influence their work has. Medved pointed out John Irving’s remarks when he received the Oscar for “Cider House Rules.” Irving thanked the National Abortion Rights Action League and Planned Parenthood. “Clearly, he believes that movies send messages,” Medved alleged. “But why is it Hollywood claims so much credit for all these uplifting messages they are communicating to the American public, but they accept no responsibility for the violence, for the irresponsible sexual behavior, for the crude language and for the vulgar behavior that is pumped into our national bloodstream like a toxin every day for hours a day?”

Hollywood expounds on the first lie by saying that its products simply reflect reality. “Hollywood does not ---repeat --- d o e s not reflect America,” Medved argued. Using violence, sexuality and faith as examples, Medved refuted this lie.

“Violence is hugely overstated in mass media,” he went on to explain. Citing a study by the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, he explained that every night on prime time TV, viewers meet about 350 people. Seven die every night as murder victims. “You don’t have to be a math major to figure out that if that same murder rate applied in reality, 7 people out of 350 killed every night, you wouldn’t need zero population growth because very soon you’d have zero population,” Medved humorously pointed out.

Similarly, sexuality as portrayed in films and television is hugely weighted toward sex out of marriage. The most recent study done by the Media Research Center, according to Medved, showed that on TV, sex outside of marriage is nine times more common than sex within marriage. This is negated by the most authoritative sex study in the U.S., which was conducted by the University of Chicago in 1994. That study showed that not only are married people more satisfied with their sexual lives, they have sex more frequently than unmarried couples.

Medved said that Hollywood completely ignores the reality of America’s religious faith. “This is a country where, according to every survey, between 40 and 45 percent of us go to church or synagogue every week. The only time you see someone going to church in movie is basically a prelude to murder or some kind of crime or devastating misbehavior,” he explained.

 

Lie #3 - It's all about the bottom line and that's what the people want.

Medved said some entertainment leaders might concede that Hollywood may “influence people a little bit,” but they insist that the content of TV and films are driven by the need to make money. They suggest that they must make money and the way to make money is to give viewers what they want to see.

“It is not about money,” Medved contended. He explained that the films honored at the Oscars – “American Beauty,” “Boys Don’t Cry” and “Cider House Rules” – were “very disappointing performers at the box office.”

In his popular book, “Hollywood Versus America,” Medved analyzes box office performance based on Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) ratings. “R-rated films, which represent a majority of all films released in America, are less likely to be profitable,” he asserts. “The movies that do best on average are rated G and PG. The movies that do worst are those rated R.”

Medved agreed that Hollywood is most concerned about “gold.” However, the “gold” to which Medved referred is not box office revenue. “They care most about that bald, gold little guy named Oscar,” he explained. The awards – including the Oscars and Golden Globes among others – are not determined by box office success. Instead Hollywood insiders pick them, according to Medved. Television producers and filmmakers want to be taken seriously by their peers.

HOW DO WE RESPOND?

After illuminating the three big lies, Medved offered suggestions of how concerned Americans can respond to them.

“We are, at any given moment, either moving closer to being the kind of people that the good Lord wants us to be, or we are moving further away,” Medved said. “There is no standing still. There is moving in the right direction or the wrong direction.”

He asserted that concerned Americans must not wait for Hollywood to change, but instead, they must change themselves. The change can occur in deciding how much TV to watch, what kind of programs are appropriate for watching as well as the kind of movies to support with box office dollars.

To counter the lie that mass media merely reflects reality, Medved suggested individual gather information about the world using sources other than mass media. Medved offered ways to do this – getting involved and spending time in community organizations, interacting with real people and by thanking God for his blessings.

Mass media claim it is just about money. “That’s not true,” Medved stressed. “It’s about prestige, praise and feelings of respect among the entertainment community.” And the best way to way to change the equation, according to Medved, is for concerned Americans to make their voices heard.

He discouraged boycotts saying they do not work. Instead, he urged listeners to get involved in the creative process to change the internal dynamics of what is considered great work in Hollywood. Medved also suggested that involvement can come through writing and discussing popular culture in public venues .