In my first job as a military adviser on a film set, I witnessed the stark contrast between the gun safety culture of my Navy SEAL days and the cavalier attitude toward firearms that permeates Hollywood, writes Kaj Larsen in The New York Times. During a break in filming, the lead actor, fresh off a stint as a teen heartthrob, picked up a gun and began waving it around, joking with the cast. Instinctively, I leaped toward the actor, grabbed the gun and gave him a hard thump to the chest, admonishing him for “flagging” the entire crew — using the military term for aiming a firearm at someone.
Later, I pulled him aside and drilled into him the cardinal
rules of gun safety, rules that become second nature to anyone who handles
firearms professionally: Always treat a gun as loaded. Never point it at
anything you don’t intend to shoot. Keep your finger off the trigger until
ready to fire. These aren’t optional guidelines but ironclad laws. If you’re
going to handle firearms, even those loaded with blanks, I explained, you have
a duty to master these principles.
The disregard for basic gun safety I witnessed that
day wasn’t an isolated incident. It was emblematic of a problem in the film
industry and a symptom of the profound contradictions in Hollywood’s attitudes
toward firearms.
On movie sets, real guns, often modified to fire
blanks, are commonplace. Gunfights and shootouts are staples of blockbuster
entertainment, and the characters wielding those weapons, from James Bond to
John Wick, are glamorized and idolized. Violence — often stylized gun violence
— has long been a lucrative part of the Hollywood ecosystem. At the same time,
Hollywood is perceived as a bastion of liberal politics and a leading voice in
the push for gun control. After mass shootings, many actors and executives make
impassioned pleas for stricter regulations on firearms. They use their
influential platform to turn public opinion against American gun culture.
It’s a jarring contradiction, one that the industry
has long ignored — but one that I believe it can no longer avoid confronting.
The tragic
shooting on the set of “Rust” in 2021, which claimed the life of a
cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, has cast a harsh spotlight on the
consequences of a cavalier attitude toward guns. The details of the episode
paint a picture of an environment where basic gun safety protocols were
neglected. Live rounds were mixed with blanks. Firearms were handled with
shocking nonchalance. The result was a cascading series of errors that
culminated in a preventable death.
The conviction last
week of the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, for involuntary
manslaughter, and an assistant director’s plea of no contest to a charge of
negligent handling of a deadly weapon, underscore the systemic nature of the
problem. It’s not just about individual lapses in judgment but about a broader
culture of laxity and disregard for the lethal potential of firearms on set.
The “Rust” tragedy should be a wake-up call for
Hollywood. It demands a top-to-bottom re-evaluation of how guns are handled in
the entertainment industry. The industry needs stronger safety protocols and
more rigorous training, in conjunction with experienced and qualified armorers.
It needs actors to educate themselves and respect the deadly power of guns,
even those firing blanks. It needs producers and directors to prioritize safety
over expediency. And it needs a system where anyone can speak up about unsafe
practices without fear of reprisal.
Since Ms. Hutchins’s death, some in the industry have
begun to take action. Guy Ritchie, a veteran action movie director known for
films that prominently feature firearms, announced he would no longer use real
guns on his sets, instead opting for airsoft pellet weapons. The actor Dwayne
Johnson, whose production company is behind action films like “Red Notice,”
committed to avoiding real firearms on his sets, even if it meant increased
visual effects costs. Over 200 cinematographers also signed an open letter
calling for a ban on functional firearms in filmmaking and refusing to work on
sets that use them.
These are encouraging steps. But these actions need to
be part of a fundamental cultural shift — one that brings to film sets the
seriousness and respect for firearms that are drilled into military and law
enforcement professionals.
The very language Hollywood uses, particularly the
term “prop gun,” is emblematic of the problem. The phrase “prop gun” suggests
something inauthentic, a harmless facsimile of a real weapon. This is a
dangerous misnomer. The guns used in films are typically real firearms, often
modified to fire blank rounds or to be nonfunctional. By referring to them as
mere props, the industry perpetuates a false sense of safety, downplaying the
genuine risks these weapons pose.
The military’s approach to gun safety is a stark
counterpoint to Hollywood’s complacency. In the military, every round, whether
blank or live, is treated as potentially lethal. Any exercise involving
firearms involves multiple, meticulous safety checks. The final responsibility
rests with the individual pulling the trigger, who must confirm the weapon’s
safety before firing. It’s a culture of uncompromising discipline and
accountability, where the consequences of complacency are well understood.
The most important lesson Hollywood can learn from the
military is an ethic of shared responsibility — that everyone, regardless of
rank, has a duty to ensure safety. In the Navy, if a young sailor crashes a
ship while the captain sleeps, both are held responsible. In 2023 alone, the
Navy relieved 16 commanding officers, some almost
certainly because of the actions of their subordinates. That
accountability is what’s sorely lacking in Hollywood.
The path forward is clear, if not easy. Hollywood must
adopt a new ethic, one that treats guns with the seriousness they deserve. It
must foster a culture where safety is paramount, where no one is too important
or too busy to follow basic protocols. It must train its talent, its crews and
its leadership to view gun safety not as an optional extra but as a core
competency and a moral imperative.
The film industry has a unique power to shape culture,
to lead society in grappling with complex issues. But it can’t authentically
take on the debate around America’s relationship with guns until it resolves
its own internal contradictions. It can’t advocate responsible gun laws while
simultaneously glamorizing reckless gun use. And it can’t demand accountability
from others while avoiding it on its own film sets.
To read more CLICK HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment