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Alec Baldwin indicted for involuntary manslaughter in fatal gunfire on film set
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2024
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What does society gain by charging him for this?
Accountability.
Except he did nothing wrong? The person that should be held accountable is the armourer
Doing nothing when it comes to safety regulation is doing everything wrong.
Except he's the one that hired the armorer.
Alec Baldwin was also the producer, so he has a say in who they hire.. which means he should also be held accountable
He was one of the producers, but the others aren't being procecuted, probably because some ambitious procecutor likes the idea of boosting their ego and career with such a high profile case. I've also heard his responsibilities the set didn't include overseeing hires
More than if we let celebrities get away with stuff us peasants would be charged with.
Just because you like his acting doesn't mean he should be free of accountability.
If I accidentally shoot and kill someone and my defence is I thought it was unloaded, I'm sure as fuck going to jail for involuntary manslaughter.
That's an unfair comparison.
If someone hands you a gun that by all accounts should not be able to fire a bullet that can injure or kill, in a highly controlled setting with a professional armorer, and that gun kills someone when you didn't even pull the trigger you should not go to jail.
The gun was apparently modified and had real bullets, both of which were the fault of the armor (the mod was seemingly done by someone else but the armorer should have caught it). Sure, you can speak about blame over hiring an incompetent armorer on everyone involved on the production and certification side, but that's a different matter and not what's being discussed here.
I'm an actor, with some combat experience (99.9% swords, a couple of fake gun shots, but they were stage not film).
The idea of this happening is terrifying to me, and makes me want to never do firearms choreo. However, whether sword or firearm, if i injured someone during choreo I would know it's my fault. I am supposed to always be able to control what I'm doing and if I'm advancing and cutting at their head, even if they forgot to parry or dodge my blade shouldn't hit their head. If it does - my fault. Its drilled into us.
Having not done firearm choreo on film myself I can't speak to it, but really there should be no reason to point a live gun (even w/ blanks) at someone, you can set spikes (floor marks) to cheat the angle (make it look like you're standing opposite but you're offset) and then you a tape measure to ensure if the gun discharges nothings in the line of fire.
Actors can spend hours with an intimacy coordinator working out a kiss, or with a dialect coach working on an accent, or stunt coordinator working out falling down some stairs, it shouldn't be different for working with a deadly weapon.
This would be the equivalent of the blade flying off the hilt of your sword and hitting someone off scene. Would that still be your fault?
If you follow every procedure you believe you're supposed to be as part of your job, doing something you've probably done before and is standard in your industry, but someone else has done something that they shouldn't have that made that action deadly, you literally have no accountability.
The armourer illegally left that gun loaded, nobody else is to blame. It's like arresting the waiter at a restaurant for serving food that was improperly missing a nut allergy when the chef made that mistake.
Revenge for mocking The King in Orange, who reigns in Mara-Cosa.