Jamie Foxx, Quentin Tarantino speak about movie violence in wake of Newtown, Conn., shootings

From left, Don Johnson, Kerry Washington and Jamie Foxx attend "Django Unchained" press conference with screenwriter Quentin Tarantino, Dec. 16, 2012, in New York. / Donald Bowers

As Hollywood has responds to the rampage at a Connecticut elementary school by pulling back on its offerings, one star says the entertainment industry should take some responsibility for such violence.

Jamie Foxx, one of the industry's biggest stars, said Saturday as he promoted Quentin Tarantino's upcoming ultra-violent spaghetti Western-style film about slavery, "Django Unchained," that actors can't ignore the fact that movie violence can influence people.

"We cannot turn our back and say that violence in films or anything that we do doesn't have a sort of influence," Foxx said in an interview on Saturday. "It does."

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In true Tarantino form, buckets of blood explode from characters as they are shot or shredded to pieces by rabid dogs in the soon-to-be-released "Django Unchained."

Despite Friday's mass shooting, the press junket for the movie, which opens in theaters Christmas Day, continued in New York as scheduled on Saturday.

Tarantino, whose credits include "Pulp Fiction" and the "Kill Bill" volumes, said he was tired of defending his films each time the nation is shocked by gun violence. He said "tragedies happen" and blame should fall on those guilty of the crimes.

He said, "I just think, you know, there's violence in the world, tragedies happen, blame the playmakers. It's a Western. Give me a break."

Foxx's co-star Kerry Washington said she believes the film's explicit brutality serves an important purpose in educating audiences about the atrocities of slavery.

"I do think that it's important when we have the opportunity to talk about violence and not just kind of have it as entertainment, but connect it to the wrongs, the injustices, the social ills," she said.

"Django Unchained" also stars Don Johnson, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson. Oscar buzz has surrounded the movie and several of its stars.

In the Newtown, Conn., massacre on Friday, a gunman killed his mother and then went to an elementary school, where he killed six adults and 20 children before committing suicide.

Tell us: What do you think about violence in movies?

[Jonathan5761]

By beholding you become changed. I'm not a very religious person but that doesn't change the fact that this statement is very true. You set children down in a class room with a teacher in front of them and what happens? The children are taught. OK, so now you set a child down and put a TV in front of him or her and what is going to happen? He or she is going to be taught. These violent movies are teaching our children how to kill, use force, break the law, take drugs, get divorced, lie, drink, smoke, commit adultery.... The list goes on and on and on. Anyone that would try to argue with this is insane. It's a nobrainer!!!!!!

[SheriA84]

Jonathan - I completely understand and respect your opinion. You make a valid point about kids constantly learning whether they're in front of a teacher or a television set. But when do we stop blaming Hollywood and start blaming the parents? I have excellent parents who somehow figured out a way to protect me from the world without completely keeping me from it. I wasn't allowed to watch TV shows or movies that promoted sex, drugs, or violence. In fact, I remember being completely put out that at 13 I wasn't allow to stay the night at a friend's birthday sleep-over because after the cake and ice cream was served, they were all going to watch Pretty Woman. I couldn't begin to understand why my mom wouldn't allow me to watch it when everyone else was. Now I get it and I'm very thankful that she chose to make the hard decision to not let me stay - and that she was willing to put up with my 13-year-old attitude in the process. Parents (as a whole, not all) have become lazy. They expect teachers to do all the teaching and trust Hollywood to make the best decisions about what's ok for their kids to watch and what isn't.

My sister teaches 8th grade English. I'm constantly appalled at the stories she tells regarding parents who don't give a rat's rear when she calls to tell them they're kid is failing her class. Many of the parents have gone as far as to say, "That's not my problem. You're the teacher. You deal with it."

So again I ask, how is this Hollywood's fault? Hollywood is all about making money. It's a business. As long as we continue to support the business, they'll keep doing what they're doing. That nutjob who killed those kids in Connecticut had a screw loose. The news media said his mom had been petitioning the courts to get him committed. I highly doubt he was nuts because of anything he saw on TV. I think he was nuts because he was nuts. It's terribly unfortunate, but I don't think Hollywood is to blame for it. In this particular instance, if one feels the need to point fingers, we should be pointing them at our own government for not locking the kid up when his own mother knew he was psychotic.

[Jonathan5761]

By beholding you become changed. I'm not a very religious person but that doesn't change the fact that this statement is very true. You set children down in a class room with a teacher in front of them and what happens? The children are taught. OK, so now you set a child down and put a TV in front of him or her and what is going to happen? He or she is going to be taught. These violent movies are teaching our children how to kill, use force, break the law, take drugs, get divorced, lie, drink, smoke, commit adultery.... The list goes on and on and on. Anyone that would try to argue with this is insane. It's a nobrainer!!!!!!

[hbb4]

People are angry at Tarantino for all the wrong reasons. I'm not angry at Tarantino for portraying violence in movies. I'm angry that Tarantino, a hack filmmaker and screenwriter, is still able to make films only because of the over-the-top violence. The Hollywood film critics can't stomach the fact that they put a hack screenwriter into the Hollywood elite after Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, so they keep giving Tarantino rave review for mediocre films. Tarantino is only able to be successful because he uses over-the-top violence that drags in a young male audience while "paying homage" to past filmmakers. He hasn't had an original idea in years. We shouldn't be angry that Tarantino's films perpetuate violence; we should be angry that his films exploit violence for profit. Tarantino should try making a film without relying on "buckets of blood" to tell the tale. Then maybe critics could get past the shock value to see what a horrible screenwriter he really is.

[ohforgodsake]

So Pat Robertson is nuts for blaming the shootings on gays (and yeah, okay, he is) and Dobson is nuts for blaming "abortion pills" (which, clearly he is--nuts, and evil) but somehow we are not nuts if we blame movies. It's nonsense. There may be no one and nothing to blame here except one manifestly insane kid, although a broken metal health system is not a bad suspect too. Our desire to lash out at someone or something is understandable, but after we calm down, can we look at, oh, say, reality, for a minute and drop the knee-jerk easy solutions. Movies, TV shows, video games, novels, poems, songs, Noh plays, sock puppets, and punch and judy shows do not cause people to go insane and rampage with combat firearms. If they did, we'd all be dead long ago.

[Kinoeye77]

Look at it this way... the men who designed the first rockets did so because of one book they all read as children: From Earth to the Moon. So don't say that literature and film have no influence on the direction of a society. Quite simply, they do. And it's time for us to have the conversation about the kind of nation we want to be, and how the stories we produce and consume can inspire us to greatness, or lead us into narcissistic, mean degradation of ourselves and others.

This isn't to say that violence can't or shouldn't be portrayed. But HOW is it being portrayed? What is the message? Between the endless sea of internet pornography, and the mindless, stupid, violent films and video games... we're well on our way to creating a nation that resembles Alex from A Clockwork Orange. And all this to make a quick buck.

I'm tired of living in a society like this, and I wish everyone would lift their windows and shout "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!"

[jnostromo]

It is the overly violent trash that is constantly being distributed..The excessive gore filled horror films and video games which are designed to get the audience to cheer for the killers...Desensitization is a fact and is the result of constant exposure to violence for violence sake..When you tell kids that killing is fun , exciting a game constantly there are those who will take it to heart...

[S00zie]

When I was a child about 30+ years ago, I was not allowed to watch these types of movies or play violent games. My parents taught me to respect people, to respect life, etc. I guess you can blame entertainment, the NRA or whoever you feel the need to blame but what it comes down to is parenting. You can either let your children watch these types of movies or you can parent them and not let them. Just my two cents.

[jnostromo]

It is a combination of factors , parenting, widespread saturation by various media outlets and the easy availability of non hunting weapons...Today's children are bombarded far more than any in the previous history of this country....Hollywood has changed drastically to where they now profit by producing gore trash where killers are heroes and true heroes are dumb and flawed..In the 60's HG Lewis was ostracized for producing worthless gore, today directors of this trash are lauded...The message they are sending is that killing is exciting and cool.

[mountain_goat]

Movie violence has been discussed for year and even the subject of a fictional book. the increase in violence is escalating and the problem is the fact we have more gun shops than gas stations in USA, more gun possession and possession of assault weapons with large capacity for ammunition = weapons of mass destruction. this culture of gun ownership along with video game violence is a problem. video games are much more violent than movies, more pervasive, and desensitizes more. These video games also builds this eye-hand coordination and shooting ability. more accurate shooters, desensitized, and violent. video games no longer are the good against the bad, but the violence is toward grandmothers, police officers, and everyday citizens. Ban assault weapons and violent video games.

[jnostromo]

Have you seen the work of today's schlock horror film directors? They contribute to the violent culture also...

[InterestedObserver2]

Oh, for crying out loud -- what a load of political BS. The fact of the matter is that we have a problem with crazy people -- just like Sweden does, or England, or China, or Mexico, or Germany, or Russia, to name only a few countries where mass murders of school children have been carried out in the past few years. You might as well blame the school for being a target rich environment. That's right, we need to ban SCHOOLS so a bunch of innocent kids aren't all in one place to be murdered. Jeez, will you people stop blaming inanimate objects for the actions of madmen and then trying to take those same inanimate objects away from people who had NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CRIME? What? Can't punish the perp, so you want to go after someone else? Hey, here's a thought -- why don't we ban cars? over 30,000 people died on the highways due to drunk driving alone last year. Among them were literally thousands of innocent women and kids. Why not get rid of those evil cars -- heck, owning a car isn't even a Constitutional right the way owning a gun is! Trust me, it's every bit as logical as the whole "guns are the root of all evil" claptrap is.

[jnostromo]

There is a whole genre of torture gore porn and cannibal hillbilly movies where the killers are glorified...We have an entire generation growing up anticipating kill sequences...It is desensitizing to the max...Of course Hollywood will use the old it's just fantasy excuse....

[KansasCity-2012]

Violence in films and TV without limitation clearly teaches impressionable minds about different ways to resolve conflicts that escalate.

It often makes immature viewers see use of deadly weapons as the easiest path towards resolution.

A graphic depiction of a victim receiving a gunshot or a shooter intentionally firing a weapon to their victim, clearly portrays impressive resolution that remains in a viewers mind longer than many other scenes and is often recalled when a viewer has a compelling need to resolve issues that never seem to fade or abate.

A secondary issue is the access to deadly weapons that seem so easily achievable and acquired through implicit channels that trust the user.

Movies with violence seem to have these two messages: Here, is a weapon we trust you can use, and There, is a escalating problem we trust you can resolve.

[S00zie]

By the way, this was not directed at Kansascity-2012. This was simply my opinion.