Fake or real, should Guns be allowed on movie sets?
At this point, we have to start asking tough questions that have simple answers.
In 1984, Jon-Erik Hexum, an American actor and male model, died from sustained injuries from a prop gun on a television set. Two years later, Hollywood star Brandon Lee fell victim to a fatal firearm accident during the filming of The Crow. This garnered worldwide attention and prompted changes in how Guns are treated on sets. One would assume these changes will be a hundred per cent effective considering the damage capable of being inflicted if not, but it was false.
We could go back and forth questioning why live rounds were allowed on movie sets in the first place or throw the blame at the prop coordinator. However, these same reactions followed such previous cases! Therefore, at this point with socio-cultural evolution in storytelling and film production, we have to ask an important question that demands an urgent answer, “Considering the brutality it initiates in fiction and reality, should Guns still be a thing in filmmaking?”.
A prominent pioneer of gun use in cinema was The Outlaw’; An American Western flick directed by Howard Hughes in 1943. Since then, an Associated Press report from 2016 determined that from 1990 until the time of publication, at least 43 people died on sets in the U.S., and more than 150 had been left with life-altering injuries. What seemed to be a harmless instrument used for fun and realism has resulted in tragic effects that have moved from cinema’s fictional realms and seeped into society.
A liberal point of view could argue freedom to exercise rights to weaponry for entertainment, hunting, defense, or whatever purpose. However, this theory puts the lives and property of innocent individuals in imminent danger. Without a doubt, Guns improve entertainment quality, especially for movies in the action genre. But for how long shall we ingest these performances without One, ‘questioning the morality before the gun is triggered? Two, ‘reviewing the consequences of the pulled trigger’.
After many life-threatening injuries and deaths, we have come way past the point of clamoring for more safety measures on movie sets! We cannot waste time pondering upon this, so another injury and death don’t occur to any crew member who is just going on about a good day of work.
In conclusion, Hollywood has a role to play in ending gun violence, Onset, and offset!
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Israel Olorunnisola is a freelance creative. When he is not writing about Film, Music, TV or Pop culture he is telling stories on Wattpad.
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