COVER STORY : AT THE CENTER OF THE DOLE FIRESTORM

Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) got plenty of attention when he scolded Hollywood about sex and violence in movies, TV and pop music. But, as The Times reports today (see Page A1), Dole’s comments aren’t changing the face of show business. Yet. The creative and business powerbrokers will tell you they’ve always been thoughful about what they produce. Here, then, are some snapshots of life on the front lines:

OLIVER STONE

Director

In Sen. Bob Dole’s attack on Hollywood violence, Oliver Stone’s 1994 film “Natural Born Killers” was singled out as a prime offender. “A ‘90s form of McCarthyism,” the director says.

“Dole isn’t proposing censorship or passing legislation, but, then, neither did Joseph McCarthy,” says the 48-year-old Stone, who is currently shooting a film about Richard Nixon and whose credits include “JFK” and the Oscar-winning “Platoon.” “By creating a climate of paranoia, they create a chilling effect. Warner Bros. has backed away from ‘dangerous’ movies in the name of family films--the great equalizer. What are ‘family films’ but a euphemism for mediocrity?”

Even before Dole, Stone says, a lot of intelligent people missed the point.

“ ‘Natural Born Killers’ was an audacious work, a very misunderstood film,” he maintains. “It was technologically advanced--almost radical--for a mainstream picture and generated a storm of ugliness.”

On the face of it, Stone acknowledges, the film--the satirical tale of a murderous duo who became the media’s darlings--was a violent one. But its “dazzling surface,” he insists, was a commentary on our times.

“Dole called the movie depraved, but it was meant to reflect our depraved culture,” Stone says. “By categorizing things, we are able to dismiss them. You don’t want to listen to the message? Kill the messenger. That way you don’t have to think.”

Accusations of hypocrisy, the director says, were more distressing than Dole’s political agenda.

“To be accused by colleagues and critics of creating an exploitation film, one that used violence instead of exposing it, upset me a lot,” Stone says. “When all is said and done, Dole had a point. We all agree that on-screen violence debases our culture. We just disagree on the methods of preventing that . . . and on the proper methods of representation.”

Contrary to public perception, the director says, “Natural Born Killers” took in more than $100 million worldwide--evidently striking a chord.

“Which is worse?” the director asks. “The sanitized violence we’re fed on TV that sidesteps the actual effect of violence--or ‘Natural Born Killers,’ which makes a pointed statement about the cheapening of human life?”