Yale Bulletin and Calendar

February 16, 2001

Volume 29, Number 19

Producer calls for more ethics in filmmaking

Filmmakers need to think less about profits and more about the messages that they are sending to their audiences,
contends F. Miguel Valenti, author of the new book "More Than a Movie: Ethics in Entertainment."

A producer and entertainment attorney, Valenti was the guest at a master's tea in Ezra Stiles College on Feb. 7. His campus visit marked a return to familiar territory for Valenti, who earned both bachelor's and law degrees from Yale (1980 and 1983 respectively) and later taught two film studies courses here.

Together, the television and film industries comprise "the most powerful cultural force on the planet," said Valenti, noting statistics showing that by the time youngsters reach age 16, they've seen 16,000 movies on the big and little screen. "Doing anything 16,000 times has a powerful effect," he said, pointing out that the figure doesn't include movie previews or commercials "where you could easily see 8 or 10 people killed" at a clip.

It's long been known that young people are more likely to smoke or drink if a favorite movie figure does, said the alumnus, and many acts of teenage violence -- such as the shooting at Columbine High School -- have been directly linked to violent programs and films.

Yet, he noted, the major Hollywood studios are "not concerned at all" with the ethics of their products. "Money is the bottom line."

Valenti pointed as an example to his own experience producing the film "Vig" (also known as "The Money Makers"). The work was a "morality play" originally written for the stage, but the company financing the movie version insisted on introducing more violence and sex into the plot. "They managed to make enough changes in the normal course of business that it became a very different animal," one where the violence outweighed the story's moral message, he said.

The alumnus emphasized that he was not calling for a ban on sex and violence altogether, but believed that filmmakers should seriously consider what behaviors they choose to include in their movies -- particularly whether those behaviors further the plot or are simply gratuitous.

Filmmakers also need to think about how they portray certain behaviors, such as substance abuse and murder, said Valenti. If drug addiction is portrayed as something that can be easily overcome (as it was in "Basketball Diaries") or if an "Arnold Schwarzenegger character" kills six people with one bullet, the movie "takes the moral outrage out of" the behavior, he argued.

"In many other fields," said Valenti, "people have to have a course in ethics or learn a Code of Ethics" before they can practice their profession. Yet, very few college film programs offer courses on ethics -- the topic is usually "passed over in one afternoon lecture," he added.

"I'm not suggesting we need a formal code of ethics," he said, "but we need to think about the effect of what we're doing."

Describing his book as "the first word" in what he hoped would be a continuing dialogue about the role of ethics in entertainment, Valenti said he would prefer to see the industry reform from within, rather than in response to governmental regulation.

In fact, Hollywood was recently shaken up by the rumor that the U.S. Surgeon General was going to classify public violence as a public health risk, with many individuals wondering what that might mean for the industry, noted Valenti. Although that ruling never came into effect, it is still a valid concern, said the alumnus.

"It used to be that the media -- television or film -- was something that you went looking for because you wanted a diversion. Now you can't escape it, even if you want to. That means it is a public health factor, whether we like it or not."

-- By LuAnn Bishop

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

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Exhibit celebrates 'Paul Mellon Bequest'

Columnist condemns 'infotainment' trend

Producer calls for more ethics in filmmaking

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Yale SOM launches student-managed venture capital fund

NFL commissioner to discuss future of pro sports

New society advocates use of ecological concepts in industry

Senior Ben Trachtenberg wins prestigious Mitchell Scholarship

Liman Colloquium will examine law enforcement practices

Students will test skills in 'ultimate mind sport' with Yale sponsorship

Solnit will explore the 'Bioethics of Children's Rights'

Economist William Nordhaus to discuss dilemmas raised by 'global public goods'

Yale Dramat to present Brecht masterpiece

Dance troupes to unite in benefit performance

Garten to discuss his new book, 'The Mind of the C.E.O.'