An article was published in The Hollywood Reporter today about Russian President Vladimir Putin's newly enacted anti-gay laws and whether Hollywood (specifically studios) will continue to release films and conduct business with the country in the future. (You can read the article here). Written by Dustin Lance Black, the writer of Milk and an outspoken gay representative of LGBT Americans, the article is passionate, clearly personal, and incredibly interesting, considering only last week The Hollywood Reporter's cover story was an excerpt from the new book, The Collaboration: Hollywood's Pact With Hitler. 

Written by Ben Urwand, The Collaboration reveals how Hollywood ultimately "cooperated" and "collaborated" with the Nazi's prior to World War II. And by cooperated and collaborated with Nazi's, I mean the gestapo force manipulated studio heads into changing scripts to depict the Nazi party in a positive light and remove elements implying the mistreatment of Jews. The Nazis basically told Hollywood that if they didn't change certain films (specifically All Quiet on the Western Front), Germany would refuse to screen and distribute them. 

Back to Putin. 

In June of this year, Putin signed a law that would allow the Russian police to arrest tourists and foreign nationals they suspect of being homosexual, lesbian, or "pro-gay" and detain them for up to 14 days. Nazi flashback anyone?

He also signed a bill classifying "homosexual propaganda" as pornography, meaning that anyone who condones homosexuality in any form will be persecuted. It also means that anyone who does not publicly denounce homosexuality could also face punishment. 

In July, Putin banned the adoption of Russian-born children to any homosexual couples or single parents living in any country where marriage equality exists in any form. 

Dustin Lance Black's article in THR specifically asks Hollywood, What will you do to help? Hollywood has a great power over international influence. Hitler knew this; he was obsessed with the propaganda power of film, that's why the Nazis were so "collaborative" with the industry prior to World War II. 

Could society finally realize that sometimes saying nothing, turning a blind eye, is just as bad if not worse than condoning such a profound level of hate?