USA – -(Ammoland.com)- “It takes a lot to shock today’s jaded movie audiences, especially those attending a Hollywood preview. Yet, Mel Gibson’s new movie about America’s Revolutionary War, “The Patriot,” drew loud gasps at a recent screening,” economist, author and Crime Prevention Research Center founder John Lott observed in The Washington Times back in 2000:
“The outrageous scene? Mr. Gibson’s character handing over guns to his 10- and 13-year-old sons to help fight off British soldiers. Few critics were soothed by the screenwriter replying that the scenes accurately portrayed the complexities of war or Mr. Gibson’s assurance that he would let his own children use guns in self-defense.”
Things have not gotten better, as WND.com reports. The Motion Picture Association of America has given lead actor Kevin Sorbo’s new film “The Reliant” an “R” rating, ensuring many families that don’t know any better will not let their children see the film.
The reason? Executive producer (and president of the United States Concealed Carry Association) Tim Schmidt offers his view:
“It seems the MPAA gave ‘The Reliant’ an R-rating due to their discomfort with how the movie depicts the responsible use of a firearm by a pre-teen boy. This boy saved the innocent lives of his own family members! It just doesn’t make sense to me.”
That will have a major impact on box office receipts and perceived viability of such fare to investors. And that will help to ensure that the information young people get on guns overwhelmingly comes to them from sources intent on undermining the right to keep and bear arms while simultaneously exploiting mind-numbing violence with guns for the sake of “action movie” profits.
From their point of view it makes perfect “progressive” sense. The former head of MPAA was Chris Dodd, replaced in 2017 by Charles Rivkin.
When he was a senator, Dodd was a “leader” in citizen disarmament,” who never saw a gun-grab he didn’t like. He was also a hypocrite when it came to protecting his and his patrons’ financial interests.
It was a bit of a family tradition – his father, Sen. Thomas Dodd, was a principle architect behind the Gun Control Act of 1968:
“In past years, Senator Thomas Dodd (D – Conn.), well known for his anti-gun viewpoint, has ruled subcommittee hearings with an iron hand,” a Shooters Club of America alert in the January 1968 issue of GUNS informed its readers. “He has said, ‘I would be for abolishing all guns … I never saw any sense in guns anyway, and I do not go backward by saying so. I hope some day the world will say, “Destroy them all”.’”
As for Rivkin, he’s been DNC delegate for both John Kerry and Barack Obama, and “California finance co-chair for Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and one of his top fund raisers.” In return he got a couple plum ambassadorships and all kinds of connections as Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs.
True, the ratings monopolist lauds itself for “independence.” MPAA’s assurances might carry more weight if we knew something about the raters, or if Jack Valenti, the guy who set up the rating system and handpicked its administrator, had not been such a hard core Democrat.
Valenti was the go-between for the Lyndon Johnson administration and Hollywood “stars” (including Charlton Heston) who came out for GCA ’68. Here’s the letter (and to my knowledge John Wayne never participated, although Jimmy Stewart, Gregory Peck, Hugh O’Brien and Kirk Douglas did):
Feel free to buy into MPAA being an honest, unbiased broker in all this. If you don’t, the producers of The Reliant have presented their defense along with an appeal. Fighting MPAA’s rating will be expensive. If you believe the kind of message it promotes is something young people would benefit from learning, and if you want to ensure similar efforts aren’t dissuaded before they begin, visit their Indiegogo site, help as you can and spread the word. You can also connect with them on Facebook and Twitter.
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Tangentially related: 50 Years of Infringements after GCA68 Show Only Constant is Obsession with Control
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating / defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament.
In addition to being a field editor/columnist at GUNS Magazine and a contributor to Firearms News, he blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
An unarmed man, is an enslaved man!” “A disarmed man, is a conquered man!’ “I shall not be enslaved or conquered!”
Sic Semper Tyrannis !
An armed society is a polite society
California is a disease that needs removed… NY, Ill, NJ, Md Hi are no better.
The fruitcakes in Hollywood do not care about children safety, public education or the well being of America. They put guns in the hands of these nuts in order to glorify their appearance on the screen to make them big in the eyes of the public. Hollywood is phony, fake, dope smoking and exists only to make money and pump up their own image.
Wasn’t Charleston Heston the president of the NRA?
Was he anti gun in the the let sixties and then changed his mind?
More Hollywood hypocrisy. I’m almost 64 now and saw Easy Rider when it first came out. I was a child then and went to see it on my own. No adult supervision needed. Then years later l went to see it and was turned away because my then girlfriend was under 18 and the movie had earned an R rating. It shows on basic cable now and then with appropriate content removed. From one senseless extreme to the other!
I hope Sorbo’s movie does well in spite of it’s communist suppression R rating!
In the 1990’s, Congress had hearings to put “Warnings for Explicit Language” on albums. Dee Snyder from “Twisted Sister” testified before Congress to no avail. What was interesting? Sebastian Bach said, “Put it on the albums!” He recognized that kids want that which is verboten. He was correct. Album sales soared.
These kids now, are able to download media that we “Grownups” can’t even find. It may seem strange, but the poison fruit aspect may be the very reason the kids seek it out.
For what it’s worth I plan on taking my whole family to see it in the theater (kids are 13, 10, 6, 3) and we’ll buy it when it comes out. I’m confident that if they can handle the Marvel films they can handle this. Love Kevin and his latest conservative/Christian works, and I trust this film will be generally wholesome. I DO NOT trust the largely secular film raters and THEIR agenda. Even my 6 year old daughter knows the 4 rules of gun safety, and in DIRE NEED I would not hesitate to trust my two oldest to… Read more »
@Rock; You forgot Me, Conn, RI, Mass, Del, and we are loosing Wash, Or, V, Pa, and Nev. It is a very contagious disease with no treatment in sight, except extermination of Demo-Rats, look at who in charge of these states?
There is a long standing policy in the news media to not report cases where a minor uses a firearm to defend themselves or their loved ones. I’ve had reporters openly explain to me that it would send the wrong message to kids.
Now, I am totally confused — the article speaks of a “new movie” but in the same paragraph it mentions comments made in 2000 — so what is it? In the “original movie” that I watched, the siblings did no shooting, from cover behind trees, they performed the function of reloading the one shot muskets for their father, who did all the shooting!!