I've read all the replies to this thread and I must say that WE are not at all representative of the parents whose kids are spending hours and hours a day watching violence and playing games that glorify violence. WE are the parents who pay attention, who set limits, who have rules. We are NOT part of the problem. We set examples, we talk to our kids, we monitor what they watch and what they play.
I very much believe Hollywood is significantly responsible for the breakdown in personal values of a seriously large part of the US population. I'm talking inner city ghetto kids without parental controls because their single parent is out there working 2 jobs, or maybe their single parent is out there NOT working, and certainly not parenting. Kids who are not fortunate to have parents like US, not fortunate to have extracurricular activities like sports or scouts with adults who care and give guidance.
Sure, we can say that the television shouldn't be the babysitter...but for a few million kids, it IS the babysitter. And they are watching trash tv. They are too young to distinguish between television and reality. "It MUST be true, I saw it on tv". They watch horrific numbers of murders and mayhem on television. They watch severe beatings that would render any normal (ie. not on television) person unconscious and probably brain damaged. They play games that award points for the number of kills, they play games that glorify violence against pretend people.
So do I think that Hollywood contributes to violence in the "real world"....YES! You bet I do! One last comment. This week a new American television show started on our network. I thought, 'oh good, I think I'll watch it...it comes on at 10PM once a week...I can relax and wind down and watch a new series." The name of it is "Dexter". I watched a double episode pilot and I was so grossed out and appalled that I wrote a letter to the network here in NL and asked them to reconsider and NOT buy the next season. Talk about glorifying murder and mayhem! What sort of sick people think up this crap? And why doesn't anyone in Hollywood have the gonads to stand up and say 'we are doing this all wrong'? Is it any surprise that countries refuse to show television programs from America? And since entertainment is the #1 export in America, I think somebody should be looking out for the economics! kath | 
