Being Responsible

Now that my Norman Conquest script, Hastings, is being considered by the good folks at Mad Hatter Entertainment, I've been thinking of new ideas to turn into screenplays. One of those ideas has been in my head for a long time. George "Bugs" Moran is remembered today as a man who was so dangerous he was Al Capone's arch rival. Yet "Bugs" has never been the subject of a major Hollywood film. Therefore I've been spending a lot of time over the past month researching the life and times of this notorious mobster. Yet when I explained my excitement for the project last week to my father, he asked me something. "What is there redeeming," he inquired "about Bugs Moran?" It was an interesting question from a man who spent his career working with criminals as a law enforcement official. Bugs Moran is said to have repented for his misdeeds at the end of his life, yet showcasing the brutality of that life may not be the most responsible thing a screenwriter can do. Writers make an impact, after all - even screenwriters. That's not to say violence should never be conveyed in creative works. Most, if not all, of my own scripts contain violence. Yet I think it's important to keep that violence in a clear, concrete context. Works which celebrate cruelty or the darker nature of man simply aren't good for society. Those which show violence for what it is: a powerful tool to either enact or fight evil, can actually be of real value. Those of us who write should take note.