c. 2000 Religion News Service

(David P. Gushee is director of the Center for Christian Leadership and associate professor of Christian studies at Union University in Jackson, Tenn.)

(UNDATED) Recently I had the privilege of speaking to Hollywood screenwriters about the moral issues they face in their daily work. Good news: The much-despised entertainment industry may be ready for change.

I am among those who have lamented what comes out of Hollywood. Crass vulgarity, sexual license and ruthless violence often seem to rule the day, not to mention mind-numbing nihilism. The industry has faced a barrage of recent criticisms about the moral impact of its work, accompanied by occasional boycotts and other expressions of public indignation.

Some in Hollywood have responded to such criticisms with unsatisfying answers like, “We only give the public what it wants,” “Nobody can prove entertainment has an impact on people,” and “We’re defending America against censorship.” These defensive reactions rival those of the cigarette industry in their irresponsibility, and have done nothing to reassure those concerned that the situation will ever improve.

However, a visit to Hollywood itself reveals a more nuanced picture. There are, in fact, morally serious people in the entertainment industry. The conference I addressed was called “Content and Conscience: Towards an Ethics of Screenwriting.” It was hosted by Inter-Mission, a Christian ministry to the entertainment industry.

More than 200 writers, along with actors, talent agents, directors and producers, came out to consider the question at hand. Many were Christians _ yes, there are committed Christians in the entertainment industry. Others were morally thoughtful non-Christians. They genuinely wanted to know how to think about the moral implications of their work and how to improve its moral content.

Most of these men and women are already attempting to function as salt and light in Hollywood. They know that their industry is a very secular place and yet, like every place on Earth, it can be penetrated by God’s love, by well-lived lives and by moral values appropriately demonstrated and communicated.

Conference participants told me that the entertainment industry is more ripe for change than may appear to be the case from the outside. The industry, they told me, began to take a hard look at itself after the Columbine shootings. While there are certainly amoral directors, producers and executives who are unwilling to consider issues of moral responsibility, their numbers are declining. More are uneasy at the thought that they are spending their lives producing entertainment that is damaging to their own and other people’s kids, not to mention the rest of us.

Several institutional efforts in Hollywood are worth noticing. There is the ministry of Inter-Mission itself, which is increasingly influential. The Los Angeles Film Studies Center, an initiative of Christian colleges, offers Christian students from around the nation a chance to learn the industry, gain access to it through internships, and get launched on a career in Hollywood.

The Humanitas Prize honors screenwriting that uplifts moral values _ winning it is considered a major career-booster in Hollywood. ClearVision, founded in 1998, aims at moral renewal in American life through influencing the products emerging from the entertainment industry.

Concerned citizens can certainly have an impact on the entertainment industry. The bottom line remains important _ executives who are evaluated based on profit margins are indeed quite sensitive to the success or failure of their projects.

We can and must vote with our feet and dollars. Beyond that, we can bless (rather than block) some of our best and most morally sensitive young people if they feel called to be salt and light in Hollywood or New York. We can support Christian ministries and other initiatives already making a difference in the entertainment industry. And we can make our concerns about particular programs and films clear to industry leaders.

I came away convinced that a slash-and-burn culture wars strategy for engaging Hollywood is exactly wrong. Human beings _ not monsters or demons _ work in the entertainment industry, and human beings respond far better to honest and constructive conversation than to demonization and attack.

KRE END GUSHEE