Together, they take up the majority of a child s leisure hours. And the messages kids get, and images they see, often glamorize brutality, and trivialize cruelty. Take, for example, popular music. And predictable in that there are few fans of such music that are over 20. Movies are equally blatant in their marketing to kids, and appalling in their content.
Movies have great power because stories have great power.
When that power is used responsibly, it can edify, uplift, and inspire. But all too often, that power is used to exploit. I ve seen some movies that are basically two-hour long commercials for the misuse of guns. They then claim that parents bear total responsibility, even as they deliberately do an end-run around parents, and make it harder for them to make decisions. Moreover, entertainment companies cannot simultaneously claim that it is a parent s duty to make informed choices, and then make it as difficult as possible for them to do so.