Hollywood vs. America: Popular Culture and the War on Traditional Values is a 1992 book by conservative film critic Michael Medved.[1] Its purpose is an examination and condemnation of violence and sexuality in cinema, as well as other media, such as TV and rock music. The book's evidence relies heavily on the Lichter & Rothman book Watching America and the 1990 conference "The Impact of the Media on Children and the Family" to conclude that violence in cinema has a negative impact on American culture, especially by motivating viewers to mimic the violence they see on the screen. The book was praised by George Gilder in its American edition.
In his book Movies About the Movies, film historian Christopher Ames attacks Hollywood vs. America as overly simplistic, exhibiting "virtually no awareness of the function of fantasy and vicarious experience…That audiences might have complex reasons for viewing behavior they do not wish to emulate or experience firsthand eludes Medved." [2]
On the other hand, Martin Amis agreed with some of Medved's points about violence affecting young audiences, while ultimately rejecting Medved's argument, saying violence was an inevitable part of any artistic medium.[3] Hollywood vs America was criticized in two articles by Brian Siano in the January 1993 issue of The Humanist magazine as being a case of Medved trying to exaggerate in order to make his point.[4]