Harvey Weinstein has produced some of the most violent films in Hollywood including many of Quintin Tarantino’s movies; Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, and Django Unchained. However, he has had a change of heart as a response to the tragic shootings that have been dominating the news headlines in recent years. A deadline.com article reports that on CNN recently he “spoke about his own children and how he no longer wanted to feel like a hypocrite. “The change starts here, … It has already. For me, I can’t do it. I can’t make one movie and say this is what I want for my kids and then just go out and be a hypocrite.” He added that he would still make a movie like Lone Survivor, which is a violent but accurate portrayal of our American military and their dedication to serving this country. “I’m not going to make some crazy action movie just to blow up people and exploit people just for the sake of making it,” he said. “I can’t do it.” 

My take on this; when someone of Harvey Weinstein’s stature in the movie industry has the courage to speak out like this, and he truly seems to be heading in the right direction, I can overlook his past influence and give him praise for trying to turn the tide in his own career, and even in the movie making business as a whole . A Star for Harvey.

However, the majority of Hollywood executives have not seen the same light that Weinstein has. The deadline.com article goes on to say, “I’ve interviewed several executives over the past few weeks and many have said privately that they think the gun violence — especially in video games — has gotten out of control. However, they also say they have an obligation to their shareholders to make a profit and violence sells.” … This kind of greed-driven philosophy gets a big splat.  Here is the full article on Harvey Weinstein.