Hollywood Hides Its Head in Sand.

WITH Hollywood under fire last week amid congressional hearings and a damning report on media violence, the industry responded in its time-honored way when beset by political controversy.

It hid behind its desk, plugged its ears, and wished all these people would just leave it alone.

This strategy is not without its advantages, and in fact, it has worked brilliantly in the past. Nearly every time some heinous act of violence is committed by an underage assailant, the usual political suspects can be heard chanting about the influence of media violence on youth. There is a brief hue and cry in the halls of government, and legislation is considered but seldom passed.

That's because such laws cut a little too close to First Amendment freedoms for the tastes of most voters, and because politicians enjoy getting their campaign checks from Hollywood moguls too much to jeopardize them by actually taking action. As long as studio chiefs and record-label honchos keep their mouths shut and don't say anything to add to the brouhaha, these political witch hunts can be depended upon to disappear with time and faded memories.

But there are signs that the current fracas is not going to be a short-lived phenomenon, and it is not simply going to fade away without action being taken. For one thing, last year's high school massacre in Littleton, Colo., was simply too outrageous, and the evidence that the killers were influenced by movies too direct. For another, it's an election year, and the candidate Hollywood had been relying upon to support its interests -- Al Gore -- has selected one of the most outspoken Hollywood critics in the Senate as his running mate while threatening harsh sanctions unless the industry reforms.

Hollywood has not proven very good at policing itself. For that matter, few agencies or industries have ever been very effective at self-policing -- including the Los Angeles Police Department. At the same time the federal government is threatening to step in and directly oversee the LAPD, Gore and other politicians are threatening greater federal oversight of the entertainment industry.

So what's the solution? It may lie in some sort of independent board, which would be responsible for monitoring Hollywood's compliance with its own rules on marketing adult materials to children and exposing those who fail. The concept is not unlike the Police Commission and its role as an independent overseer of the LAPD.

Other legislative solutions exist, but these are not only unpalatable to Hollywood, they would be on legally shaky ground. The Federal Trade Commission has the power to restrict advertising ruled to be false, deceptive or harmful, but it would be extremely hard to prove that a video-game commercial or a print ad hawking violent-themed rap albums was false or deceptive.

What is certain is that Hollywood is going to have to change its strategy for dealing with political controversy. Not one studio executive agreed to appear before a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on violent entertainment last week, and while Disney announced a few token steps like restricting ads for R-rated movies on ABC, most studios were silent. The few entertainment executives willing to discuss the matter mostly hid behind the First Amendment, crying that any regulation of their industry would be contrary to the Constitution.

No one is talking about restricting the kind of content that can be produced, however, and it's hard to imagine what valued First Amendment freedom would be lost by preventing marketers from directly targeting children with adult-oriented material.

Unless Hollywood executives take their heads out of the sand, admit there is a problem, and help work toward a solution, a solution will be imposed upon them by the government. This time, it's not just going to go away.