Sex, lies and celluloid: doctors hit out at Hollywood

It probably comes down to the old trade-off between escapism on the one hand and realism on the other with an added frisson of moral censorship or outrage on the side. The Royal Society of Medecine have reviewed Hollywood's output over the last 20 years and expressed concern at what appears to be the irresponsibility of showing sex and drug-taking as if it is virtually medical-consequence-free, when in fact, during those 20 years, the risks have become greater, arguably.

None of the top 200 films promoted safe sex, and nobody ended up with an unwanted pregnancy or any infection. The doctors, writing in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, say filmmakers should reflect the real consequences of unsafe sex and illicit drug use in their work.
I think they have a point. And let's not get into the issue of whether Hollywood should be paying towards mitigating the effects of what 'they' have been touting; in effect acting as product placement and lifestyle advertising for things that we as 'society' have to pick up the tab for either in health care costs, policing, emotional consequences of caring for the victims and perpetrators of this stuff and so on.

Now I take the point about fantasy, escapism and storytelling. But perhaps we should try to see a bigger picture and note that what we fill our heads with tends to reinforce [or challenge] dominent myths of our culture. What we ask of Hollywood is what we ask of any media or even advertising: that the truth be told, particularly when it is a matter of life and death.
I pray that this report has a marked and positive effect.

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