SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE SLAMS ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY

U.S. Sen. John McCain blasted the entertainment industry Wednesday (9/13) for marketing adult-rated movies and selling lyrically explicit CDs to children. It could also be that the Senator, who is chairing the Commerce Committee hearing, was a little put off by the lack of interest shown by film executives who chose not to attend.

In contrast, several music industry execs remained on the Republican senator's Christmas card list by making the trip to DC.

"There will be much said today, but thundering silence will be heard from motion-picture executives. By some uncanny coincidence, every single executive was either out of the country or unavailable," said McCain, while cartoonish puffs of steam came out from under his collar. "I can only conclude the industry was too ashamed of or unable to defend its marketing practice."

Lashing out at absent movie execs, McCain opened the Senate Commerce Committee hearings by calling many of them out by name. His list included Time Warner's Gerald Levin, New Corp.'s Rupert Murdoch, Disney's Michael Eisner, Seagram's Edgar Bronfman Jr., DreamWorks' Jeffrey Katzenberg and Miramax's Harvey Weinstein.

Of the music industry executives attending, BMG Entertainment President/CEO Strauss Zelnick, made it clear he was testifying as "the father of four children, as a concern citizen and as the CEO of a leading entertainment company." He said much violence was caused by the proliferation of firearms in America as compared to other countries. Even so, he said, guns aren't the only explanation for crime and violence among young people. "We in the media do share in shaping our nation's culture we may not change what people think, but we create a vernacular for those thoughts. We as an industry must recognize our role and play it responsibly.

"As the CEO of BMG," he added, "I am ultimately responsible for what my company produces. I stand by our art, just as I stand by our sense of taste and restraint. We are not always successful in the regard. We've made mistakes. But with the freedom to choose comes the accountability for our choices – both the good ones and the bad ones."

FTC Commissioner Robert Pitofsky, summarized Wednesday the FTC report that kicked off the hearings. Pitofsky accused the entertainment industry of counteracting its own "self-regulatory" ratings systems with marketing and advertising aimed at children. Said Pitofsky, "The commission believes that these advertising and marketing efforts undermine each industry's parental advisories and frustrate parents' attempts to protect their children from inappropriate material."

Also lending their voices to the anti-Hollywood screed were Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joe Lieberman and Lynne Cheney, wife of Lieberman's Republican counterpart and the former head of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

"Rather than helping to shoulder the growing burden on parents, the entertainment industry too often has chosen to go behind their backs, targeting the sale of violent, adult-rated products directly to children," Lieberman said.