Industry Leaders Discuss Substance Abuse Portrayal

By Sushuma March 5, 2000 10:11 AM

     Print Story

(Variety)-Several entertainment industry leaders agreed Thursday that portrayals of substance abuse are common in the media, but most butted heads over what, if anything, to do about it.??The short answer is that I don?t know,? admitted Motion Picture Assn.?of America chief Jack Valenti to a packed house inside Simi Valley?s Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.??But I have the right to make any movie I choose, and I also have the right not to go see it.? The group, which included Recording Industry Assn.?of America CEO and president Hilary Rosen, was brought together to respond to a recent Stanford U.?study that damns Hollywood for negatively influencing kids with its drug references.?Strangely enough, Tinseltown's ratings czar was the most vehement about leaving creative types alone in their film, TV and music work.??Directors say that (getting rid of cigarette or drug use) would disrupt the dramatic narrative they have going,? Valenti said.?When Julia Roberts smokes in a film, he said, that?s an example of ?character definition? and shows that she?s ?nervous and neurotic.? But film critic Michael Medved couldn?t disagree more.??You can take away cigarettes and it won?t harm the core substance of the material,? he said.?More...?

Tweet This Now!