[Wayne Luke]

In any group, you're going to have a wide variety of people. You will have those that are some that are sincere and some that are not. Hollywood, or more appropriately to face the original rant - The Movie and Television industry is no different.

Not everyone that makes movies or television shows are anti-gun, has political pull, cares about the environment, <insert topic of the day here>. They are a diverse group of people who have many different points of view. This is no different from the town you live in, your school, your neighborhood, your place of employment.

The industry does serve a purpose besides entertainment. It allows people to highlight causes that they believe in. It doesn't mean that you need to agree with them but if they make you think about issues for just a few minutes, then they have done their jobs. Some of those gruesome and violent films bring topics to light that are not known by the general public. For instance, the film "Valkyrie" is based on true events that happened in World War II. "Wall-E" on the other hand wanted to push an environmental agenda. Not all films are like this but a there are those that are.

Also for every violent or gruesome film, there are more made that are good fun. We watch a lot of them in my family on the Disney, Family and Hallmark channels. Maybe the ones that you don't agree with stick out more because of personal perception and that you don't agree with them. Maybe its because they are the ones that inundate the media where other movies like "Last Chance Harvey" don't get the same coverage. I would think its mainly because the first genre relies on media exposure to pull in the fickle fans and get their money. Whereas many people would see the second just looking at the movie listings in the paper and seeing that Dustin Hoffman is in it.

The main problem is that we turn them into idols and forget that they are people. They can change their opinions on ideas just like the rest of us. However since their lives are under magnifying glasses and published on every supermarket checkout line, there is a lot more scrutiny. Whether or not, their opinions are correct is a matter of conjecture.

So, I can't look at Hollywood in the same way. It is made up of good and bad people. They can be Republicans, Democrats, Christians, Jewish, Muslim, members of the NRA, for gun control, etc... No one stereotype defines them all. Having known quite a few people who work in the Industry from the basic assistant to having met stars like Pierce Brosnan, Kiefer Sutherland and Christian Slater, you will find they are normal people. Most of them just trying to make ends meet. The average actor makes $600 a day and they don't have steady work. The ones that are highlighted are a very few people out of the millions that work to bring you television and movies.

Oh and for those public service announcements. Look up the Education in Television laws. Basically in order to use publicly owned airwaves, each station has to publish so many hours of education based programming every year. This is why you'll find public service announcements.

My only advice is to vote with your wallet. Pay money for the types of programming you want to see. That is what I do. Its kind of an aside but you will never find a game from Rockstar in my house. Nor will I play them anywhere else or purchase them for friends or family. The same thing goes for movies. If I don't think something agrees with my social mores or what I consider to be moral, then I won't purchase the product.