On the one hand, Hollywood stars preach gun control and want to ban guns. On the other, they love to make movies glorifying gun violence. Can you say “hypocrisy”?

Actor Ethan Hawke admitted it is “hard” to “sell a movie without a gun.” He makes more money from movies with guns than other kinds. 

Jeff Bock, senior box office analyst for Exhibitor Relations, agrees. “You can’t deny that nearly every action movie, and superhero movie for that matter, turn to the rat-a-tat-tat of gunplay when they need a kicker or there’s a lull in the story,” he told USA Today. “Stories in the action/adventure genre seem to rely on gun violence without much thought to the consequences.”

Using violence is “plain lazy filmmaking,” he says. It’s a cop out for lack of imaginative plotlines.

Hollywood Guilt

Hollywood may be guiltier than it thinks. Those stars should start preaching “script control” rather than gun control.

Dr. Brandon Centerwall of the University of Washington School of Public Health studied the correlation between gun violence on TV and violent crime. His studies found that homicide rates in Canada were not related to easy access to guns. What were they related to? Criminal behavior associated with watching television.

He found homicide rates, not only in Canada but also in the U.S. and South Africa, soared 10 to 15 years after the introduction of TV in those countries. Up to half of all homicides, rapes, and violent assaults in the U.S. were directly attributed to violence on television.

The gun control group Everytown pooh-poohs his research. Jason Rzepka, director of cultural engagement for Everytown, claims that “from all of our research on this subject, violence in television and film is by no means a primary culprit in our gun violence crisis in America.”

But Bock points to contradictory evidence. If the Motion Picture Association of America thought movies “had little to no influence on audiences in America, then they wouldn’t have such strict guidelines for ratings, especially involving teens, smoking and violence.” 

Killers Mimicking Hollywood

Many killers admit they mimicked scenes from Hollywood movies. Colorado shooter James Holmes, who shot people at a movie theater, said  “I am the Joker” when arrested by the police. The shooting has parallels to more than one scene from the Batman comic book series, “The Dark Knight Returns.” In the movie, the Joker kills people in a TV studio, and a man who lost his job shoots three people in a movie theater. 

The Columbine shooter was inspired by the movie “Natural Born Killers.” The victims and their families tried to sue the production company. They lost the suit.

Many people know that John Hinckley, Jr., fired six shots at Ronald Reagan in 1981 in order to get the attention of the actress Jodie Foster. What people may not know is that he was mimicking the actions of an actor in a movie she played in, “Taxi Driver.” Cab driver Travis Bickle tries to save Foster, a 12-year-old prostitute, and then attempts to assassinate a senator running for president. 

An Illinois couple robbed a bank by dressing in nuns’ habits, just like the robbers in the movie “The Town.” Lee Boyd Malvo, who was convicted of the Washington D.C. sniper shootings, was obsessed with the world of blurred realities and mind control portrayed in the violent gun movie “The Matrix.”  

The Biggest Hypocrites

There are many actors who publicly call for gun control yet portray gun violence in movies. Matt Damon frequently plays these types of characters in films but is one of the biggest advocates for gun control. In his latest “Jason Bourne” movie, he used five different guns. He told an Australian newspaper, “You guys [banned gun ownership] here in one fell swoop and I wish that could happen in my country.” 

Actress Jessica Alba advocated for gun control at the 2016 Teens Choice Awards. She told the audience to use the gun control hashtag #StopTheViolence. Yet she has appeared in violent movies like Sin City, where she appeared in a promo carrying a S&W 29. 

Actor Sean Penn calls guns “cowardly killing machines,” yet has carried more than 20 guns in films. Actor Liam Neeson, who’s starred in many violent action movies, said, “There’s too many [expletive] guns out there, especially in America … There’s over 300 million guns. Privately owned, in America. I think it’s a [expletive] disgrace.”

Changes

But perhaps times are changing. Tim Allen’s popular sitcom “Last Man Standing” is about to address guns in a different way. On the show, Allen, a conservative, owns a sporting goods store on the show that sells firearms. “So we’re going to have to deal with that somehow,” he told Closer Weekly. The show will present guns positively, for use in sports and protection from others who misuse guns.

ABC canceled the popular show last year after six seasons. Fans suspected it was because of the show’s conservative bent. Allen portrays a conservative father who opines about Obamacare, the environment and other political issues. The network is bringing the show back now, no doubt due to its high ratings. A positive portrayal of guns will be a refreshing change. 

Follow Rachel on Twitter at Rach_IC.