Letters: Entertainment industry should take some of the responsibility for the violence in America

When is the entertainment industry going to take some of the responsibility for violence in America? It is ironic that many in the entertainment business agree that smoking on television might influence young people to smoke, yet many continue to deny that violence in media can promote violence in real life.

I am especially concerned about the number of violent shows (especially crime shows) on major television networks. I have seen some very graphic, disturbing scenes while changing channels or in advertisements for them.

In December, a few movie producers decided to postpone their opening dates in light of the tragic killings at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Those postponements did not change the fact that even the advertisements for the movies are full of men shooting and killing people.

Some of the actors in the movie "Django Unchained" said that movies don't create violence, they simply depict it: that they are reflections of violence in America. That is a sad and uneducated statement.

It is time for the entertainment industry to take responsibility for creating and adding to violence in America. Violence in media does influence and desensitize us. Which stars are willing to take up this "cause"?

Lisa B. Clark

Provo