Reframing guns on screen; plus, is it just us, or are movies getting longer?

It's Been a Minute

NPR

News Commentary, Society & Culture, News, Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality

4.6 • 8.8K Ratings

🗓️ 3 June 2022

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Once again, Americans are asking how to end mass shootings. With consensus on gun laws unlikely, some are turning to Hollywood to help change the narrative. Can those who control the levers of culture shift the public's relationship with guns? Guest host Elise Hu speaks with former video game creative and now TV writer Nadra Widatalla about a world where on-screen heroes don't rely on guns.

Plus, seriously, why are movies so long? It isn't scientific but it sure feels like movies are racking up the minutes. Elise chats with Variety reporter Rebecca Rubin about total runtimes — and if they aren't actually getting longer, why does it feel that way?

You can follow us on Twitter @NPRItsBeenAMin and email us at [email protected].

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, this is Issa.
0:02.2	I'm here to introduce the host, my mom, Elise.
0:05.8	Alright, let's start the show.
0:09.0	You're listening to it's been a minute from NPR.
0:11.4	I'm Elise Hugh.
0:13.0	Listeners, I hope you and your loved ones are taking good care,
0:16.2	because obviously it's been a really tough few weeks
0:19.0	leading into the summer with the recent mass shootings
0:21.8	at a grocery store in Buffalo,
0:23.8	and at a school in New Valdi,
0:25.8	and others in Tulsa and Dayton.
0:29.1	It's hard not to think about guns in America.
0:31.9	When it seems like political action is immovable,
0:34.6	one thing we have on our minds is culture,
0:37.4	and the people who wield tremendous power in American culture,
0:41.0	and what it looks like and how it feels,
0:43.7	what our values are.
0:45.3	They're in the entertainment industry,
0:46.6	they're making film and TV and games.
0:49.4	Hollywood exports stories about heroes with guns
0:53.0	and cops who save the day as kind of the regular rhythm of things.
0:57.1	What if storytellers, producers, the industry writ large?
	...

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