Joan Holman
Founder & Executive Director
Spiritual Cinema Alliance
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The United Nations, American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association, National Institute of Mental Health, American Academy of Mental Health, and the U.S. Surgeon General, have all made definitive statements about the relationship between childhood exposure to visual violent images and later manifestation of real world aggression and violent criminal acts.
It is a film that uplifts and inspires, that explores higher realities and the spiritual potential of man and woman.
It is a film that exalts the worth of the individual and shows the triumph of the human spirit over adversity. It is a film that differentiates between light and darkness and affirms light as the essential nature of all things spiritual.
It is a film that leads people, through images, music and messages, to create inner and outer worlds of beauty, truth, love, harmony and happiness.
It's A Wonderful Life
Directed by legendary Frank Capra - one of the most inspiring spiritual films ever produced powerfully illustrating the value of a single human life and the importance of community. Capra said, "There are no rules in filmmaking, only sins. And the Cardinal sin is dullness." Spiritual exalting films do not have to be dull!
Lost Horizon
Another Frank Capra masterpiece-- showing the dream of Shangri-La, a Utopian society, and the love of "Twin Souls"
Somewhere in Time
Produced by Stephen Simon starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour, a love story that transcends time
Ghost
Illustrates the continuity of the life of the soul
Maytime
Starring Nelson Eddy and Jeanette McDonald with a beautiful story of the enduring love of "Twin Souls" that surpasses time and place
Fairytale
A look into the world of fairies and magic - produced by Wendy Finerman who also produced "Forrest Gump," and by Mel Gibson's production company Icon Productions. Look for a cameo by Mel.
Star Wars
George Lucas's first Star Wars film is the classic story of the Hero's Journey, a spiritual journey we are called to take to reach our spiritual potential. "The Power of Myth" as taught by Joseph Campbell was foundational to Lucas's creation of this masterpiece that deals with universal themes and archetypes
My Life
starring Michael Keaton, a tremendous story of personal growth and transcendence
Joan Holman with Dean Mitchell who is recognized as one of the finest painters in America. Coming from poverty and raised by his grandmother, Dean has risen to the heights of the art world. His work, which deals with the universal themes of life, death, family and psychological and spiritual revelations, has appeared in numerous publications and can be found in private, corporate and museum collections across the United States.
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New York Time bestselling author, successful entrepreneur, popular business speaker and a syndicated columnist Harvey Mackay and Joan Holman
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VIOLENCE IN VIDEO GAMES
by Joan Holman
copyright 2003 Joan Holman
"If we want to make a positive change in the world, we cannot ignore video games because their violent subject matter is having a major influence on our youth and our society as a whole."
I like the vision of a worldwide spiritual entertainment movement, a movement that includes new choices not only in film and television, but in video games and other media as well. If we want to make a positive change in the world, we cannot ignore video games because their violent subject matter is having a major influence on our youth and our society as a whole.
THE PROPENSITY TO VIOLENCE
Hollywood producer Stephen Simon, author of "The Force is with You: Mystical Movie Messages That Inspire Our Lives," has recently discussed the movie "Bowling for Columbine" as an exposure of the tendency to violence in the United States.
PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE
As defenders of the Second Amendment have said, it is not the guns, but the people who use the guns who are the problem. Stephen said that "Bowling for Columbine" addresses more than just guns, it addresses the propensity to violence in our society. I think that the inclination to violence is global, part of the collective consciousness of the planet.
BRUTALITY AND VIOLENCE A WORLDWIDE PHENOMENON
The level of brutality and violence on this planet takes one's breath away -- i.e.,"The Killing Fields," the massacres in Africa, the brutal slaughter by Stalin and Mao of their own population for the sake of power and control, violence in the Mideast, Bosnia, etc. This planet has an ongoing history of violence, warfare and strife. Whether the tools of violence are guns, machetes, swords, bombs, or bare hands, violence spills out everywhere both individually and collectively.
ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY INCITES VIOLENCE
Certainly, the entertainment industry has played upon, incited and exacerbated the violent tendencies in people by delivering increasingly visually violent content to audiences.
In 1992, Dr. Brandon Centerwall wrote that "long-term childhood exposure to TV is a causal factor behind approximately one-half of the homicides committed in the United States, or approximately 10,000 homicides committed annually;" and that if, hypothetically, television technology had never been developed, there would today be 10,000 fewer homicides each year in the United States.
The United Nations, American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association, National Institute of Mental Health, American Academy of Mental Health, and the U.S. Surgeon General, have all made "definitive statements about the relationship between childhood exposure to visual violent images and later manifestation of real world aggression and violent criminal acts."
THERE IS VIOLENCE BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE UNCONSCIOUS
Violence will continue as long as people are unconscious. If people are to become conscious and whole, they must face their shadow and this is a very unpleasant thing to do! However, if people do not do this, the shadow will continue to exist at the unconscious level, and evil will continue to proliferate because evil gains power when its existence is denied, when it is split off from conscious awareness. And, the more split off from consciousness something is, the more malignant it becomes.
MURDER, WARS AND STRIFE
Denying the existence of "evil" within one's self invites possession by that evil. This leads to people and societies acting out urges compulsively and unconsciously leading to murder, wars (organized murder) and strife. As we have seen, even organized religions and religious zealots justify murder, destruction and evil acts in the name of God.
DEALING WITH OUR OWN EVIL
We can all contribute to ushering in a healthy, whole and peaceful society on this planet by acknowledging the parts of ourselves that we do not want to admit to having. When we become conscious, whole and integrated, we become empowered and cease to be victims and we tap into unlimited power from our own psyche.
SCAPEGOATING
Another problem with being unconscious is that it results in our projecting our shadows out and scapegoating others. Individuals, families, communities and societies create scapegoats and point the finger at the scapegoat, while denying their own violence, hatred, revenge, etc. Comedians make us laugh by exposing these unacknowledged parts of ourselves, and that is why comedy is an especially effective and powerful way to present revelatory spiritual material to audiences.
A SHIFT IN CONSCIOUSNESS
There has been a major shift in consciousness in the past 25 to 30 years. People have been waking up and becoming conscious. People have begun to take personal responsibility for their lives, their choices and their conditions in life. This is very hopeful! Although I have had many moments of total discouragement and anger about the human condition in the past, I am now very optimistic! Although I used to feel the the Creator's decision to give humans free will was a very bad move, I do not feel that way anymore.
OVERCOMING PLANETARY DESTRUCTION AND VIOLENCE
Stephen Simon ends his popluar Mystical Movies presentations with the declaration, "This time we are going to win!" I agree. I believe that there will be no major apocalypse, that people on the planet are going to be raised up, and that things are going to change for the better.
VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES
Right now, we have an epidemic of violent video games training our children to be de-sensitized killers. I am appalled and concerned when I see what children are watching. What are parents thinking to allow their children to watch these games? All I can say is that parents are either unconscious or negligent when they allow their children to partake of these games. Every parent needs to know and control what their children are watching as modes of entertainment!
MONITORING CHILDREN'S MEDIA ACTIVITY
Unfortunately, many parents do not monitor their children's media activity. They just give in to the desires of their children, who are bombarded with aggressive gaming industry marketing and strong peer pressure to view such violent video games as "Doom" and "Quake" and many others. ("Doom" and "Quake" were the favorite games of Columbine killers Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris.)
TEACHING CHILDREN AGGRESSIVE SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS AND FRUSTRATION AND ANGER
What is so bad is that young children are learning to use aggressive solutions to problems and to emotional states such as frustration and anger. This can be especially deadly with those children who have an existing brain dysfunction, since, by repeatedly exposing them to media violence, they are, in essence, being prepared to be killing machines.
CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST VIDEO GAME COMPANIES
Last year a multibillion dollar class-action lawsuit was filed on behalf of all the Columbine students, teachers and parents again 24 media companies including Sega of America, id Software, Atari, Activision, and Nintendo of America. The lawsuit claims that these games train individuals to become killing machines because they desensitize them and make them capable of killing other human beings. These video games are effectively being used by the military to train snipers to be able to kill people.... so why not the kids who watch them also?
BRAINS OF CHILDREN DIFFER
So what are these violent video games doing, especially to the brains of children? Children have been scientifically proven to process information differently than adults, in a different area of the brain than adults. Children's brains are still in a critical stage of development and they are permanently impacted by such conditioning techniques to violence through video entertainment.
SIMULATING MURDER IN VIDEO GAMES
I think that creating alternative video games is very important. Video games can be a tool for positive childhood development, but, unfortunately, the games currently on the market are full of the simulated experience of murdering human beings, over and over and over again. Let's create some other options that are exciting and fun for kids!
A POSITIVE ALTERNATIVE
Stephen Simon has described a new video game that is being developed as an experience of entering a world, in the "spirit of Myst." In this game, "your emotions, your breathing, your intention get you through this world." The game has no violence in this experience; it is all about "a journey of discovery."
NEW FACE OF ENTERTAINMENT
Human potential leader and author Jean Houston had said that the form we have called entertainment is fading. And this means that we are on the threshold of a very exciting time for the spiritually-inclined artists and creators to use the arts to transform the world in a positive way, and take the world into a Golden Age. I have always believed that the artists are the most powerful people on the planet, and that life imitates art. The powerful entertainment industry practices magic -- I call it eye magic (image). We know that we outpicture whatever we visualize, imagine, hold in our mind's eye.
So let's give those audiences some positive eye magic! Let's show them the kind of world we really want to live in!
Other Commentaries
Comments on the film Solaris with George Clooney
Harmony, unity and vibration
The Spiritual Cinema Alliance serves under the umbrella of the National Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., which has been helping individuals, corporations and communities express themselves in the charitable, educational, scientific and religious sector since 1968. The National Heritage Foundation has 7,000 foundations under its umbrella.
To make your tax-deductible contribution or for more information, contact Joan Holman at 763-551-3969.
"Joan Holman has a relentless focus to produce something positive to lift
the human spirit. I can't say enough to describe the GREATNESS of
Joan Holman other than she is in in simple terms a GREAT HUMAN BEING and for
that she will always have my friendship and support."
Dean L. Mitchell, acclaimed artist
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