Shonda Rhimes, Mark Ruffalo and more sign gun safety pledge after recent shootings
More than 200 Hollywood writers, directors and producers have signed an open letter pledging to depict gun violence responsibly on-screen after recent mass shootings in Buffalo, N.Y., and Uvalde, Texas.
Released Monday, the #ShowYourSafety pledge requests that creatives “be mindful of on-screen gun violence and model gun safety best practices” when including such images in movies and TV shows.
J.J. Abrams, Debbie Allen, Judd Apatow, Adam Brody, Kathleen Kennedy, Jimmy Kimmel, Adam McKay, Janet Mock, Marti Noxon, Shonda Rhimes, Mark Ruffalo and Amy Schumer are among the industry heavyweights who have attached their names to the electronic document.
From “FBI” to “Physical,” TV shows and entertainment events have been postponed out of respect for the victims of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
“Like most of America, we are enraged by the recent mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde,” the letter reads. “Considering there have been over 250 other mass shootings so far this year, it’s an almost incomprehensible tragedy. Something needs to be done.
“Guns are prominently featured in TV and movies in every corner of the globe, but only America has a gun violence epidemic. The responsibility lies with lax gun laws supported by those politicians more afraid of losing power than saving lives. We didn’t cause the problem, but we want to help fix it.”
‘How does this make sense to anyone?’ a distraught Jimmy Kimmel said on his late-night talk show after 19 children were killed in a shooting at a school in Texas.
The #ShowYourSafety campaign comes shortly after gunmen massacred 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, and 10 people at a grocery store in Buffalo. The proposal asks that big- and small-screen projects “limit scenes including children and guns, bearing in mind that guns are now the leading cause of death for children and adolescents.”
“As America’s storytellers, our goal is primarily to entertain, but we also acknowledge that stories have the power to effect change,” the statement continues.
“We are under no illusions that these actions are a substitute for common sense gun legislation. Furthermore, this list does not incorporate every nuance of guns on screen. However, these are small things that we can do as a community to try and end this national nightmare.”
View the full letter and list of signatories here.
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