Letter to Editor

[nybuckboy]

I'm considering sending this letter to my area newspaper to the editor. This is the first draft but would like thoughts.

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

With the new gun laws in NY state I'm sure everyone is feeling much safer now. Sorry for the sarcasm. Not too long ago I read where several hundred people showed up to support the dog who was left to starve to death yet the next week only a handful of people show up to support a meeting to help make our streets safer. I'm all for dogs treated humanely, heck I love animals and have had both dogs and cats my whole life. 

 

What every fails to really see about safety on our streets and the streets of America, is where does the gun violence come from. One word - "Hollywood". 

 

Senseless gun violence was not the normal 50 years ago. We had good wholesome movies and TV programs with often times a moral story. Not today! Just watch the previews for the movies coming out every week or the TV programs.  I bet the vast majority of movies today are movies with gun violence. 

 

It's either senseless sitcoms with laugh tracks or shows with a lot of killing. Hollywood is the  movie industry and television, the real root of the violence. We as a society have become desensitized to killing. Until we as decent human beings decide to not support this violence no amount of gun law changes will do a thing. 

 

More gun laws will do nothing to curb the gun violence. Remember, take the guns away from the good people and only the criminals will have guns. Stop supporting Hollywood.

[growalot]

proof read it out loud...if you are like me because the words are in your mind you don't always see whats missing...Second paragraph...Good sentament .

Edited January 6, 2014 by growalot

[WNYBuckHunter]

Sorry, but blaming gun violence on movies and TV is pretty silly. Thats not where the problem lies. You kinda sound like the old people in the 50s and 60s blaming all the problems on Rock and Roll music.

 

JMO

[Sogaard]

Sorry, but blaming gun violence on movies and TV is pretty silly. Thats not where the problem lies. You kinda sound like the old people in the 50s and 60s blaming all the problems on Rock and Roll music.

 

+1

[growalot]

Well letters to the editor are about rational opinions one feels on the subject and he is correct in Hollywood and TV shows being part of the problem...... just as many view the non stop violence in much of the gaming industry can play a role in desensitizing young minds...I believe a few studies have backed that up...it definitely could use an edit but I do not believe it's silly...and yes EDIT coming from me....but he wants to send it to a paper and spelling ...punctuations and structure count...

Edited January 6, 2014 by growalot

[bubba]

my only advice give more facts about the safe act and what it will do to the average gun owner who thinks they are exempt because they do not own a "assault weapon."  Use it as an educational forum also.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Its his opinion, I was just saying I dont agree with it, and I do think its silly. Its just as silly as thinking the SAFE act will cut down on gun violence. Treat the symptom, and not the disease.

 

Again, JMO.

[growalot]

Well now he has a few different opinions to scroll over and glean thoughts from....pretty much what he wanted....

[hunter49]

  I agree with the draft, with Bubba & I feel it should mention about the violence seen in the video games which I beleive is where the wacko shooters get their ideas from. Even the sat. Am cartoon s are full of violence & shooting . The experts say our cartoon s from the 50 -60' had too much violence in them, I don't see them as bad as todays.   JMO

[bubba]

simple facts like background checks for ammo and the cost    renewing handgun permists and if renewal is denied you lose all guns in the home.  areas of the counrty with the most gun cointrol is where the most gun crimes happen.  Cite the detroit mayor who said gun crimes will go down where citizens carry.  The shootings happen in gun free zones.  criminals do not follow the laws etc

[Early]

A letter to the editor is the expression of one's opinion....No need to run it by anyone, unless you wish to check some facts.  Most newspapers make simple grammar and other corrections without altering the intended message.

 

For the record:  I agree that Hollywood is at fault for glorifying gun violence, but they are not the sole cause for the problem.  To highlight Hollywood involvement in a letter to the editor is most appropriate.

[virgil]

OK, so if Hollywood is the cause of the problem, then what's the solution?  Surely you're not suggesting censorship or infringing on freedom of speech and expression?

Edited January 6, 2014 by virgil

[Early]

Well, King Cuomo here in NY, as part of, or reaction to his SAFE ACT has condoned the use of weapons deemed illegal for possession by New Yorkers in any/all Hollywood productions in this great state.  In other words....he demonizes (wrongfully) certain weapons...and then invites Hollywood to glorify their use in whatever gorey production they wish.  That is a mistake.  I think it would be most appropriate to seek Hollywood's assistance in reducing gun violence....here in NY and elsewhere.

 

To reiterate:  Hollywood is only a PART of the problem

[growalot]

Here's the thing....Hollywood has no problem getting involved in "animal rights" trying to shut down and even censor other ppls views on hunting and trapping....

To "save those poor animals from physical and mental abuse"...

So asking those same ppl to take a look at the harm they are doing to young ppl and some adults with arbitrary violence and save those  poor ppl from mental abuse They are inflicting for the sake of financial gain...  is not asking much IMO...... tit for tat as they say

Edited January 6, 2014 by growalot

[virgil]

Great point.  And while we're at it, we should ask 'Hollywood' to stop portraying drug use, prostitution, violence of any kind, reckless driving, etc. etc.......  in their movies.

[virgil]

^{'Hollywood' is an animal rights advocate and anti-hunter?  OK.  Didn't know that.}

 

[growalot]

Well ...When one uses props to mask talent...maybe they should...but the fact that the general viewing population...... doesn't have the mental  capacity to sit through a thought provoking film anymore..... I don't see that happening...not enough money in it...

[growalot]

Then you have not been watching whos headlining most of the ads they are putting out every single day...or researching who is contributing the most funds to the cause.,....

[Culvercreek hunt club]

 

 

What every fails to really see about safety on our streets and the streets of America, is where does the gun violence come from. One word - "Hollywood". 

 

Senseless gun violence was not the normal 50 years ago. We had good wholesome movies and TV programs with often times a moral story. Not today! Just watch the previews for the movies coming out every week or the TV programs.  I bet the vast majority of movies today are movies with gun violence. 

 

 

 

You mean like the Lone Ranger and all those Westerns?

[bubba]

hell all the guy wanted was ideas for his letter.

[virgil]

Charlton Heston and Tom Selleck- were they 'Hollywood'?

[fasteddie]

hell all the guy wanted was ideas for his letter.

Yeah , let's see if this goes to 10 -15 pages of BS ...........

It's the OP's opinion and all I would add is make sure of correct spelling and punctuation .

[WNYBuckHunter]

You mean like the Lone Ranger and all those Westerns?

 

Or the three stooges smashing each other with things, cartoons full of anvils being droped on characters, sticking fingers in the barrel of a gun as the hunter pulls the trigger, etc etc etc. NAHHHHHHHHHHHH, they werent violent.....

[Doc]

I remember the joke back with the old westerns was how many of the good guys were "hand-shooters". Guys like Hopalong Cassidy and Roy Rogers were so good they only needed to shoot the gun out of the bad-guys hand rather than drill him in the heart-lung area .... lol. Also there never seemed to be any blood. Apparently they were killed without putting any holes in anyone. Oh and even though the good guy had a gun in his holster, he always chose to engage in a fist fight to capture the bad guy. I guess the point is that the movies never dwelled on the blood and guts details of the action. Also the main theme of the movies was not simply about gratuitous torture and blood-letting instead of a moral message of good triumphing over evil.

 

Fast forward to today with the flood of C.S.I. kinds of programs where we have corpse after corpse laying on a slab with the chest split open and the coroners fondling dripping human organs. Or the shooting victim laying twisted in some grotesque fashion on the sidewalk with half his face blown off. And then there is that show called Criminal Minds where the deranged evil-doers devise and perform some of the most graphic, disgusting, forms of torture in minute detail that the authors can devise. And of course the directors ensure that every close-up detail is captured for the audience's shock and entertainment. Do these things inspire demented minds to turn these things into action? I suppose that with kids of all ages being constantly bombarded with these images, it is only a matter of time before you get the right kid with the wrong mind who will say, "Damn, that looks like fun".

 

Probably the big difference between the movies of the olden days and the movies of today was that the level of detail and reality and violence has grown. The central theme is not so much about any kinds of moral messages as in good vs. evil, but more focused only on who can out-gross the next with disgusting images and demented actions. 

 

Being bombarded with that sort of thing on a daily basis does make you ask whether or not that affects defective minds? I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised. Certainly, there have been more than a few documented copycat kinds of heinous crimes based on movie themes, but you can have that result simply from the evening news.

[growalot]

thanks Doc...someone with eyes open an speaking reality vs sarcasm

Edited January 7, 2014 by growalot