My reaction to the death of Halyna Hutchins.

 

I think everybody knows the story now. Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, above, died last Friday after actor Alec Baldwin accidentally shot her with a prop gun he was told was not loaded. When the story broke, I was online and it immediately shocked me and I knew it would make the primetime news even here in Australia (which it did).

As the hours passed I couldn't help but question whether this tragedy would've been considered as newsworthy had a less well-known actor than Baldwin been the one who pulled the trigger. He is also serving as a producer on the film, entitled Rust, and therefore has more responsibilities on-set than were he just one of the stars, but although he still has indeed technically killed Hutchins, and injured the director Joel Souza, I think the primary culprit here is Dave Halls, the assistant director who gave him the gun and assured him it was empty without checking it (yet Baldwin maybe should've checked it himself before firing it).

Amidst all these initial thoughts, however, and still now, I feel horrible for Hutchins and her young family and her friends; my heart goes out to them all. But I'm frustrated with how the media is treating this incident. They are, from what I have noticed, focusing almost exclusively on her death and how that was caused rather than on her work. I think it's despicable that most media outlets are doing that, particularly when women cinematographers (and women filmmakers in general) have to fight their way to success and job stability in what is an overwhelmingly male profession. Hutchins achieved that, but the media seems intent on ensuring she will be remembered exclusively as the woman who Alec Baldwin accidentally shot on a movie set. They've also used this tragedy to renew interest in the accidental shooting that killed Brandon Lee while filming The Crow in 1993, which I suspect has only fueled conspiracy theories and affected his family.

But anyway, I won't go on any more as I feel I've made every point I wanted to here perfectly clearly and if I ramble on more I may just inadvertently use the same reporting tactics I've criticised here. RIP, Ms. Hutchins.