Natural Made Killers- By Ray Comfort<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
After the Columbine school massacre of thirteen people, Leonardo DiCaprio solemnly vowed never to star in another violent movie. Just after the violent murders, the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />U.K. Mirror reported:
Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio has renounced violent films after one of his early movies was linked to the Columbine school massacre. The actor has told aides he no longer wants to be considered for parts in any productions featuring death and destruction. The 'Titanic' star has been caught up in the wave of revulsion sweeping America after the slaughter of 12 pupils and a teacher at the school in the Denver suburb of Littleton. In the 1995 drama 'The Basketball Diaries,' DiCaprio played a teenage heroin addict who gunned down his teacher and classmates. His twisted screen character wore a full-length trench coat--just like those worn by Trenchcoat Mafia murderers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold who carried out the classroom killings two weeks ago. The parents of three pupils shot dead in 1997 in a school in Kentucky have already sued the makers of 'The Basketball Diaries' for $100 million. The families of the 13 Columbine victims are expected to follow suit, insisting the film inspired teenage misfits Harris and Klebold to mount their terrible attack. Worried British video distributors had the entire classroom killing sequence cut from the film rather than risk sparking copycat murders in the U.K. (1)
Susan Sarandon warned,
Movies are important; and they're dangerous because we're the keepers of the dreams. You go into a little dark room and become incredibly vulnerable. On the one hand, all your perspectives can be challenged. You can feel something you couldn't feel normally. [They] can encourage you to be the protagonist in your own life. On the other hand, [they] can completely misshape you. (2)
So why then hasn't Hollywood stopped making violent movies? Director Francis Ford Coppola reveals why:
I made the most vulgar, entertaining, actionful, sense-a-ramic, give them a thrill every five minutes, sex, violence, humor, because I want people to come see it. (3)
After Columbine, Hollywood didn't change its agenda of violence, even in the face of these massive law suits. It has the world's best lawyers and the money to defend itself. It knows that we are vulnerable, but it also knows that we will pay up at the box office.
Fans shape their bodies and souls to be like those whom they love. They want to talk like them, dress like them, look like them, and some will even kill like them. The little girl, who imitates the way Britney Spears looks, dresses, and sings like her, really does think Britney is like her on-screen image. She and millions of others don't separate the image from the real person. It's a mystery to them when their idol divorces her husband, puts her self into a treatment center, and shaves her head.
An actor can even have a mesmerizing influence over much of their adoring public. The fans have faith in their idol--they believe what is said about God, Jesus Christ, and the Bible. If the actor says that he protects his kids from the Bible or that he hates God, they don't separate the idol from the actor.
Look at these few examples (among many) of Hollywood's distain for the God of the Bible:In The Mosquito Coast (4) staring Harrison Ford and River Phoenix, a weirdo calling people "brother" passes Harrison Ford and some kids a Bible, and says, "There you are. I've got a gift for you. It's the latest--The Blue Jeans Bible." Harrison Ford takes it and says, "Look at this, kids. It's just what I've been warning you about." (5)
In Dogma (6), a comedy staring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, the comedy gets a little serious when Matt Damon says:
Now the carpenter, which is an obvious reference to Jesus Christ, who was raised a carpenter's son, he represents the Western religions . . . Organized religion destroys who we are by inhibiting our actions . . . by inhibiting our decisions, out of, out of fear of some, some intangible parent figure who, who shakes a finger at us from thousands of years ago and says, and says, "Do it - Do it and I'll f-----' spank you. (7)
Robin Williams in Patch Adams looks to the heavens and says,
You created man. Man suffers enormous amounts of pain. Man dies. Maybe you should have had a few more brain-storming sessions prior to creation. You rested on the seventh day. Maybe you should've spent that day on compassion. You know what? You are not worth it.
In The Simpsons (8), one of the kids is asked to thank God for a meal. He says, "Dear God. We paid for all this stuff ourselves, so thanks for nothin.'"
Hollywood is fostering a growing hostility towards Christians and influencing an entire generation. See if you can spot the common thread running through modern movies:
• George Clooney (9) asks a man in a cheap suit (with a large patch over one eye), "What kind of work do you do?" The man enthusiastically answers, "Sales Mr. McGill, sales! And what do I sell? The truth, every blessed word of it--Genesis right on down to Revelation. That's right, the Word of God. Let me tell you there is d-mn good money in, in times of woe and want."
• A man in a cheap black suit, wearing large-brimmed black hat, with really weird eyes (holding a large wooden cross in one hand, with another large cross pinned to his suit) stands on a New York sidewalk and says, "The good Lord still loves me. He loves all of His children. Why He loves you . . . Help me! He's burning me alive. He's burning me! "
• A devious-looking weirdo dressed in white, with long blond hair and a large cross around his neck is preaching on a sidewalk. A sane-looking and mystified Jodi Foster slowly walks by and looks at them as they chant a slow and horrible-sounding "Praise God, praise the Lord, praise God." Like a salivating wolf, the weirdo then drips with lust as he looks at her.
Michael Medved Film critic and author of Hollywood vs. America said,
But the attitude you have from Hollywood, where every time someone in today's world is portrayed as some kind of religious believer, that person is viewed as some kind of a crook, or deviant, or weirdo, or an ugly person, or something is wrong with him or her, it's poisonous. (10)
Worth A Thousand Words
A picture is worth a thousand words, so let's look at one picture, particularly its script. This is edited from an award-winning R-rated movie called Blow, directed by Ted Demme. It is the story of George Jung, the man who established the American cocaine market in the 1970's. As you read it, ask yourself why Mohamed, Buddha or the Dalai Lama didn't make it into the script. Why only Jesus? And why use His name in conversation anyway? Johnny Depp is "George" and Penelope Cruz is "Mirtha":
Note: three times the "f" word was used in conjunction with the name of Jesus:
TUNA   Jesus Christ.GEORGE   Jesus Christ. Jesus ------- Christ.MR. T (CONT'D)   Jesus Christ.MR. T (CONT'D)   Jesus, ---- me running! DIEGO   Jesus Christ, George, I don't see you in two years . . .GEORGE   Jesus Christ.GEORGE   Jesus ------- Christ, Diego.MIRTHA   Oh, Jesus Christ, George. DR. BAY   Oh, Jesus, Get me a 12-lead.DEREK   Jesus, is that Mirtha!?LEON   Jesus, George, fifteen percent. That's an extra two-hundred large. (11)
The director, Ted Demme died less than a year later after the movie's release, while playing basketball. Cocaine was found in his system. (12)
Wheel of Fortune's host, Pat Sajak (13) has been working in Hollywood for more than thirty years. He said,
To quote Mr. [Rob] Reiner (14), "Movies are basically advertising cigarettes to kids." No knock on Rob. In fact, I agree with him. But why is smoking open to censorship and not these other issues? And what happened to Hollywood's argument that movies and TV shows don't cause bad behavior, they just reflect it? . . . . The answer is, there is no answer. It's just Hollywood being Hollywood. It's monumental hypocrisy. Kids can't pick up bad habits from what they watch...oh, except for smoking.
Directed By Hollywood
Here are two more transcripts. They weren't written directly by Hollywood. They are from two young amateur film-makers--Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, made prior to the assault on Columbine High School, assembled from the Columbine Report and Time Magazine: (15)
Note: Four times the "f" word when referring to these Christians and to Jesus:
   Dylan: "I don't like you, Rachel and Jen [two of their victims], you're stuck up little b------, you're ------- little...Christian, Godly little whores!" (16)   Eric: "Yeah...'I love Jesus! I love Jesus!' -- shut the ---- up!"   Dylan: "What would Jesus do? What the ---- would I do..?" (he acts like he's shooting the camera with his hand, with sound to accompany it)   Eric: "I would shoot you in the mother-------- head! Go Romans! Thank God they crucified that -------."   Eric and Dylan: "Go Romans!" "Go Romans!!" "Yeah!!" "Wooo!"
On April 20th, 1999, 30 minutes before the attack (Evidence item #200):
   Eric: "Say it now."   Dylan: "Hey mom. I gotta go. It's about a half an hour till judgment day. I just wanted to apologize to you guys for any c---- this might instigate as far as (inaudible) or something. Just know I'm going to a better place. I didn't like life too much, and I know I'll be happy wherever the f--- I go. So I'm gone. Good-bye. Reb..." (17)
The only difference between the Columbine killings and Leonardo DiCaprio's on screen killings was that the two murderers targeted only Christians. I wonder why.
From Hollywood Be Thy Name, due for publication May/June 2007
__________________1. http://www.leonardo-dicaprio.com/rec-new.html2. http://www.bilkent.edu.tr/~jast/Number11/Amador.htm3. http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0108/apocalypse.htm4. Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. 5. http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/m/mosquito-coast-script-transcript-ford.html6. Six nominations, including "Independent Spirit Award."7. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120655/8. The Simpsons is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Network. Thank God It's Doomsday typifies screen-writer's message. God is the almighty ruler of the Universe. He once attempted to flood Springfield (the Simpson's home town), but was stopped when Reverend Lovejoy showed that God was the path to good, and also once chose to end the world. This time, he was stopped by Homer Simpson, who requested him to turn back time and leave the apocalypse off for a few years. God has two aides, Colonel Sanders and Buddha, although he is seen with Jesus in Heaven.9. For George Clooney's beliefs, see What Hollywood Believes by Ray Comfort10. Hollywood Unmasked--www.Goodfight.org11. http://sfy.ru/sfy.html?script=blow12. http://imdb.com/title/tt0221027/13. Host of Wheel of Fortune, television production company owner, radio station owner (Annapolis, MD), music publisher, board member of the American Cinema Foundation14. As the son of multi-talented comedic genius Carl Reiner (Your Show of Shows), Rob Reiner instantly outgrew his father's legacy to establish himself as an independent force in multiple facets of the entertainment industry.15. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101991220-35870,00.html16. "If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love his own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, the servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do to you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me." (John 15:18-21)17. http://www.acolumbinesite.com/quotes.html