Donald Trump has claimed that Hollywood is inherently racist, and releases movies intentionally designed to stoke resentment and provoke violence. His comments come in the wake of the recent mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, which were the two deadliest this year so far.
Conversations about the nature of Hollywood productions are varied and frequent, with a wide spectrum of opinions regarding their purpose and viability. While some movies are made merely as harmless throwaway fun, others take a more serious tone and deal with many serious issues, including that of racial inequality, which some writers and directors struggle to get made as a result. The effect this has on the national psyche is another matter entirely, but in the case of the claimed glorification of gun violence in movies (as well as TV and video games) often cited as a contributing factor to mass shootings, there’s little corroborating evidence to support the belief.
Trump’s comments were first reported by The Hill, in which he stated that Hollywood as an institution is racist, and that the movies it routinely releases do quantifiable harm to the country. He didn’t cite any specific examples of its racism or which precise movies he believes are being detrimental to the nation, instead speaking in broad generalities from which people infer their own meaning. His statement was as follows:
Hollywood, I don’t call them the elites, I think the elites are people they go after in many cases, but Hollywood is really terrible. You talk about racist, Hollywood is racist. What they’re doing with the kind of movies they’re putting out is actually very dangerous for our country. What Hollywood is doing is a tremendous disservice to our country.
The statement was echoed in a pair of tweets posted to Trump’s Twitter feed, where he referred to Hollywood being “Racist at the highest level” producing movies that “inflame and cause chaos” and “create their own violence, and then try to blame others.” He also makes reference to a “movie coming out,” and although a title isn’t cited, it’s believed that he’s referring to Blumhouse thriller The Hunt, about a group of wealthy people who hunt a group of poor people for sport, and one woman who leads a counteroffensive against their would-be murderers. Although the film is complete and was scheduled for release next month, yesterday it was indefinitely shelved due to the apparent belief it would be poorly received in the wake of the shootings, and that marketing a film with such content would be inappropriate and in poor taste.
It’s no secret that Hollywood has a problem with systemic racism, which to confirm one need only look at the ratio of white to non-white actors and creatives afforded opportunities, with the numbers heavily skewed in favor of the former. It’s not an issue that can be resolved quickly or easily, but will take time and effort on the part of those in positions of privilege and control to seek to promote what unites rather than divides people. Also, while the implication that movies intend to provoke violence is untrue, there’s a kernel of truth about some of them being designed to make people angry. Since the first Paleolithic people began painting on cave walls, humans have expressed themselves through creativity, and when what they have to express is anger, it stands to reason what they produce has that same rage running through it. Whether or not it’s healthy to express that as a work of creative fiction for others to consume is another question entirely, and one that’s unlikely to ever be solved.
