On Thursday, while discharging a pretend pistol on set in New Mexico, actor Alec Baldwin shot and killed a cameraman in what looks to be a sad accident. It’s too early to speculate on what went wrong during the production of Rust, a Western film. However, the event, which also injured the film’s director, underscores a basic fact: guns are frequent in Hollywood movies.
We have researched the increased prominence of firearms on screen as experts of mass communication and risk behavior, and we think that the more guns there are in movies, the more probable a shooting will occur — both in the “reel” world and in the “real” world.
Gun violence in Hollywood films has risen considerably over time, particularly in films aimed at teenagers. Indeed, our study reveals that between 1985 (the year the PG-13 rating was created) and 2015, acts of gun violence in PG-13 films nearly quadrupled. Similar increases have been seen in popular television dramas, with the rate of gun violence shown in primetime dramas more than tripling between 2000 and 2018.
Violence portrayals in the entertainment business are, of course, nothing new. The usage of weapons in Hollywood films has a lengthy history dating back to the 1930s gangster flicks. Guns were also prominently featured in 1950s Western television series.
The increased representation of weapons in films and television shows is largely due to the awareness that violence attracts people, and guns are a convenient tool to emphasize violence. In the gun business, filmmakers have a willing accomplice.
Allowing gun advertisements on television or in widely circulated periodicals is frowned upon by the media. Guns, on the other hand, are frequently included in top-grossing films and popular TV shows.
The payback for gun manufacturers may be substantial: conspicuous placement in high-profile films can result in considerable increases in gun model sales.
