Alec Baldwin, the Criminal or Artist?

Alec Baldwin was on the set of a low budget film filming for a western movie titled Rust with loaded weapons in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The shooting took place when filming a scene where there was a gun fight, Baldwin openly shot at Halyna Hutchins having no knowledge or previous expectation that the gun would be loaded. Although there were previous misfires onset, firearm safety seems to be of no concern for this rushed film. Although Baldwin had heard of the previous misfires that occurred while on set, the question now becomes why did the misfires continue after the first incident? If Alec Baldwin was so guilty, where does that leave the rest of the crew? This changed the way people handle firearms, especially on a set where everyone is everywhere all the time.

All the actors on set are pretending to be someone else, it’s an art. A true actor becomes so immersed in their work, that they rely on the rest of the crew for execution. One should expect a hair crew, a makeup crew, etc. The expectation should fall on the person in charge of supervising weapons on set. A true actor‘s job is to go on set and pretend. It’s that simple. This has left the public wondering what to believe, with all this conflicting press reported. In all honesty, It’s a matter of perspective. Depending on how you look at it, from what standpoint, there’s backed up evidence to support that point of view. I think it’s of immense concern that there is even a trial for Alec Baldwin. Yes, there is no denying he pointed the gun and shot a person (Hutchins) who then later died after being wounded, but let’s take a look at the circumstances leading up to this incident. This should have raised some red flags. There are a lot of crimes, a lot of safety precautions, and a lot of overlooking that took place before that scene with the live bullet had occurred.

Leading up to this incident, there were multiple rounds, live rounds and dummy rounds, all without pattern and consistent observation needed to properly execute safety standards. The gun itself was faulty too. According to FBI investigations, the gun malfunctioned and had parts internally that were fractured, leading to the gun going off without pulling the trigger. At this point, we’re looking at the ammunition supplier, the director of the low budget film, The person leading all safety precautions on set etc. there are a lot of people here to blame, not just Baldwin. This needs to be acknowledged, and the purpose of this article is to do just so.

This highly accredited actor, Alec Baldwin, will most likely not recover socially from this incident. There are a lot of accusations and very little clarity on who’s fault it truly was. The star participated in SNL skits as well as numerous movies in the last few years like The Departed and Beetlejuice. With such a successful actor’s reputation on the line, this raises a few questions the public must ask. Are the social repercussions for such an accident necessary? Are the social effects of this crime punishment enough? And finally, is this a true sacrifice an artist must make, having an accident determine the rest of his career as an artist. Alec Baldwin will forever go down as the criminal who was focused on his art. Yes, he should’ve double checked the gun and of itself, but there were so many factors leading up to this incident that have been unaccounted for. To some, Baldwin is not a criminal, but a person who got lost amongst the chaos of a poorly thought out and terribly lead production. It’s time to acknowledge that.