So the government is threatening a Hollywood crackdown, brandishing the prospect of legal sanctions to curb entertainment industry ad campaigns that market violent fare to underage kids.
Call me cynical, but I wasn't a bit surprised last week by the Federal Trade Commission's findings that movie studios, record companies and video-game makers deliberately market violent programs to teens.
The lucrative teenage audience is not about to be written off by entertainment companies, never mind that pesky rating system that places "parental advisory" labels on some music and decrees R-rated movies and M-rated video games off-limits to those under 17.
Sure, some of the marketing tactics cited in the FTC report do seem particularly crass, like the memo that directed a studio's marketing campaign to find "the elusive teen target audience and make sure everyone between the ages of 12-18 was exposed to the film," which was rated R.
But some of the gimmicks singled out for criticism seem straight out of Marketing 101, like promoting R-rated films and M-rated games on commercials during television shows popular among teens.
"The motion picture, music recording and video-game industries should stop targeting children under 17 in their marketing of products with violent content," the FTC report said.
Right. And television stations ought to stop running candy commercials before the dinner hour.
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It's laudable, this concern about the negative influence of violence in popular culture on children. And it has made great grist for the political mill.
But doesn't it seem a little disingenuous, all this finger pointing by politicians, prattling on self-righteously about how "shocked" they are by the lack of corporate responsibility? About the only responsibility most corporations recognize these days is their mission to maximize profits and keep stock prices high. Making movies--and music and video games--is about money, not morals.
Do we really expect the entertainment industry to "work with parents to protect children," as one candidate proclaimed? Isn't that like expecting candy makers to remind our children to brush and floss?
I admit that aggressive ad campaigns promoting violent and inappropriate fare don't make a parent's job easy. It would be nice if movie studios, record labels and video-game makers worked with us to create a wholesome climate for kids. But that would also be Fantasyland.
