GRISHAM I was probably too emotionally involved to pick that fight, because I had a friend--Bill Savage--who got murdered. He was this local guy in Mississippi who encouraged me to get involved in politics when I was very young. He was just a great guy. Very warm and sincere. And it turned out he was murdered by two kids who'd been doing a lot of drugs and watching Natural Born Killers. They just thought it'd be fun to murder somebody.
EW And you think the movie caused these kids to commit the crime? Grisham I think the movie was a significant factor. Obviously, so were the drugs. They were clearly two very troubled kids. As a lawyer, I'll admit it's a stretch, to hold the filmmaker and studio responsible. But it could be done. With the right set of facts, you could prove that the person was under the influence of the film.
EW Well, suppose I decided to go out and blackmail wealthy gay men with a pen-pal scam similar to the one in The Brethren. Could my victims hold you legally responsible, since I got the idea from your book?
GRISHAM It's a question of proof. You've got to be able to prove it. That, I think, would be very difficult to prove. If somebody got the idea to start a Mafia law firm like in The Firm or to knock off two Supreme Court justices like in The Pelican Brief--I don't know how you could prove that just because you got the idea from my books I could be held liable.
EW It sounds like you're sort of backing off your original opinion. If you believe movies can cause people to commit atrocious acts, why not books?
GRISHAM Look, I'll be the first to admit it's a very troublesome area for artists, as well as lawyers and the law. I said what I said about Natural Born Killers in the heat of the moment. But I still have no regrets. I was roundly criticized, but there were a few people who said, Thank God there's somebody involved in this business that has the guts to take Stone and Warner Bros. to task for making such mindless films, such numbingly violent crap. How much worse can it get? They kill like 30 or 40 people in Natural Born Killers. The body parts, the blood covering the walls! It's been responsible for more copycat killings than any other movie. I abhor that film.
EW You have two children [Ty, 16, and Shea, 14]. Do you try to control what they watch?
GRISHAM My son saw Natural Born Killers before I did. We try to monitor what they bring home, but they watch pretty much what they want. If I saw him watching something really bad as far as violence or sex or whatever, I'd say something to him. But he's probably already seen everything.
EW Did your son dislike Natural Born Killers as much as you?
GRISHAM Nobody dislikes it as much as me.
EW How do you feel about the violence in the films made from your own books?
GRISHAM I was very uneasy watching A Time to Kill. It was rated R. I didn't want it to be rated R. Having a child in trouble in that opening scene--watching that really bothered me.
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