Craig Fischer

In several speeches during 1995 and 1996, Robert (Bob) Dole, then the Republican presidential candidate, castigated the entertainment industry for corrupting America’s culture by producing violent and depraved movies. The following viewpoint is taken from Craig Fischer’s open letter to Dole, written in response to these speeches. Fischer maintains that Dole’s attacks are simplistic and misguided. Not all violent motion pictures are the same, he argues, and the way people respond to such movies depends on a complex combination of personal factors, including the viewer’s background and biases. Furthermore, Fischer states that it is unlikely that a direct connection exists between media violence and the moral well-being of Americans. As a form of expression, violent entertainment has its place in a free American society, he concludes. At the time...