What is the central idea of this passage?

nobody reads books any longer.

the government does not exercise enough control over the media.

violence in films can be controlled by our collective refusal to watch.

films depicting violent acts are becoming very popular.

done
hollywood under fire
that's what we need to understand. we don't have to watch the violence in the movies and on tv. just don't buy the tickets! it's our choice; there's no need for government to become involved in what is simply a matter of self-restraint. money controls what films are being made. if the public stops going to violent films and stops watching them on tv, then they will go away simply because the producers will start losing money.

there is too much talk of controls in an era when supposedly we want government off our backs. the marketplace always controls what is being marketed. if the movie producers discover, through their bottom lines, that films depicting violent acts are not being well received by the public, then they'll find something else to produce.

trying to tell others what they should see and hear, either by threat or by fiat, is not going to work, either constitutionally or practically. do what you already have the power to do: don't go. turn the dial. read a good book (if any are being written these days).

Read the excerpt from the land. in the late afternoon i did the same, but all the time i was on the stallion, i was aware that mitchell was watching me. he had appeared on the edge of the woods and had just stood there watching ghost wind and me as we went round and round the meadow. finally, on one of our turns past him, he said: "s'pose you thinkin' you a real somebody 'cause you can ride that stallion." i looked down at mitchell and stopped, knowing that despite our understanding, he was itching for a fight with me. now, i don't know what possessed me in that moment to say the next thing i did. maybe i was feeling guilty that because i was my daddy's son, i could ride ghost wind. maybe it was that, but it wasn't out of fear i said what i said. i no longer was afraid of mitchell. "you want to ride him? " i asked. mitchell took a step backward. it was obvious he hadn't expected me to say that. "you know i can't ride him," he said. "your white daddy'd kill me." "you want to ride him? " i asked again. mitchell looked at the stallion, then at me. "so, what if i do? " what intrinsic motivation does the author most likely intend the reader to infer from the passage? paul is motivated by his need to have mitchell praise his riding skills. mitchell is motivated by his need to have paul praise his riding skills. paul is motivated by jealousy and wishes he had free time like mitchell. mitchell is motivated by jealousy and wishes he could ride the horse.