Today’s story in The Wrap about Hollywood and the MPAA expressing concern about film violence is a steaming pile of doodoo. For proof, I give you the documentary “Cleanflix,” which is currently streaming at Netflix.
A few years ago, a group of Salt Lake City Mormons got together to open a chain of video stores offering mainstream Hollywood movies, but ones that edited out foul language, sex, and extreme violence. Mormons are not allowed to see R-rated films, so the idea was to make forbidden films available to thousands.
To get around the issue of piracy, for every copy of a “clean” film made available for sale or rental, the store owner was required to purchase an actual copy and destroy it.
Win-win, right?
Nope.
Once Hollywood found out, they sued and the stores (which were quite profitable) were closed.
As a compromise the store owners asked the studios to make available copies of films already edited for airlines and television; which Mormons would’ve gobbled up just as eagerly as the edited copies.
Hollywood refused.
In short: Hollywood chose to lose who knows how many customers rather than profit from edited copies.
Is that the move of an industry determined to make a profit and worried about the effect film violence has on our culture?
Or is that the move of an industry whose primary goal is to pollute the culture?