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Variety: An MPAA official said on Monday that officials at the organization are “confident” that Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal won’t sign what they called a “discriminatory” religious liberty bill that was passed by state lawmakers last week.
Before reading this article I never would have known how popular Georgia was for filming. I was surprised to learn how many major pictures were being filmed in the state, which is obviously a good thing for their economy (hence why the tax breaks are put in place). I know that Boston has augmented its tax breaks in recent years to promote more movies filming in the city, so this seems to be a common practice. I wonder what will happen with this religious liberty legislation. It is no question that these film companies can influence decisions in the area as the Human Rights Campaign has suggested: films bring in a lot of money for the economy so they have some swaying power. While whether or not a business should be required to provide services for people who they think offend their religious views is a bit tricky, I think it is obvious that companies should not be able to fire people because of their sexuality. The most common case we’ve seen in the media in recent have often been wedding vendors refusing to serve gay couples. A customer looking to have a wedding cake baked can find another bakery much easier than someone can find a new job. So I think the issue of employment is more serious. And honestly, who would want their wedding cake made by someone who doesn’t think they should be married?
Like Scott I had no idea that Georgia was such a huge part of the movie industry. The fact that the amount of money spent on production there went from around one hundred million to over a billion dollars in less than a decade is mind blowing. Hopefully the state government of Georgia will realize just how significant that this increase has been for them. If this law was to be passed and the Human Rights Campaign's boycott was successful the loss of income from production companies would have a huge impact. Other than the financial side of things, the proposition of this law baffles me. This is blatant discrimination, and should be considered unconstitutional regardless of the religious implications. Someone's beliefs shouldn't restrict the rights of other people, and passing this law would only set a precedent for this. Personally I just think it's sad that it would take a financial motivation to defeat this bill, it should be something that people realize is just morally wrong.
2 comments:
Before reading this article I never would have known how popular Georgia was for filming. I was surprised to learn how many major pictures were being filmed in the state, which is obviously a good thing for their economy (hence why the tax breaks are put in place). I know that Boston has augmented its tax breaks in recent years to promote more movies filming in the city, so this seems to be a common practice. I wonder what will happen with this religious liberty legislation. It is no question that these film companies can influence decisions in the area as the Human Rights Campaign has suggested: films bring in a lot of money for the economy so they have some swaying power. While whether or not a business should be required to provide services for people who they think offend their religious views is a bit tricky, I think it is obvious that companies should not be able to fire people because of their sexuality. The most common case we’ve seen in the media in recent have often been wedding vendors refusing to serve gay couples. A customer looking to have a wedding cake baked can find another bakery much easier than someone can find a new job. So I think the issue of employment is more serious. And honestly, who would want their wedding cake made by someone who doesn’t think they should be married?
Like Scott I had no idea that Georgia was such a huge part of the movie industry. The fact that the amount of money spent on production there went from around one hundred million to over a billion dollars in less than a decade is mind blowing. Hopefully the state government of Georgia will realize just how significant that this increase has been for them. If this law was to be passed and the Human Rights Campaign's boycott was successful the loss of income from production companies would have a huge impact. Other than the financial side of things, the proposition of this law baffles me. This is blatant discrimination, and should be considered unconstitutional regardless of the religious implications. Someone's beliefs shouldn't restrict the rights of other people, and passing this law would only set a precedent for this. Personally I just think it's sad that it would take a financial motivation to defeat this bill, it should be something that people realize is just morally wrong.
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