HATCH REGRETS TRAFFIC CAMEO
January 29, 2001
from the Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said he regrets his cameo role in the movie ``Traffic,'' which features nudity, sex, drug use and profane language.
    Before the film was released, Hatch defended the movie's use of violence by saying it accurately portrayed the drug culture as degrading. But then Hatch saw the movie, which stars Michael Douglas.
   ``I was shocked and dismayed at the gratuitous amount of violence and profanity in `Traffic,''' Hatch said in a prepared statement. ``It was more than was necessary to reveal the devastation caused by drugs. I do not condone it. It detracts from its anti-drug message.''
    The senator, better known for writing religious hymns and berating Hollywood violence than appearing on the big screen, briefly appears as himself in the film.
   ``The thing I really resented was that every other word is the F-word. Hollywood needs to grow up ... There's no excuse for that,'' he said.
    He plays a bit part in a scene where Douglas, acting as the nation's new drug czar, talks to senators at a Georgetown party. Hatch tells Douglas what he thinks a drug czar ought to do.

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