Our entertainment will change, too. (2 Viewers)

[Derrik N]

This tragedy, although shocking and sickening, will not affect how I view entertainment.
Movies like Die Hard and The Siege are in my collection and will continue to be enjoyed by me. Though I won't be playing any of them this week, yesterday's tragedy is no less meaningful if I still enjoy watching movies that deal with terrorism on the big screen.
Same thing with the Columbine tragedy. I will still watch movies like The Matrix and Rambo.
I can separate the (sometimes sad) reality of this world with the make believe on the big screen.
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Derri(NO "c")k

 

[Mitty]

I'm all for things like eliminating the interstitial material for sitcoms that include the NYC skyline. I'm also pretty sure the David Letterman intro has a "flyover" of NY that passes the twin towers. I think CBS/Worldwide Pants needs to get rid of that and create a new one.
I'm also all for displaying some sensitivity in upcoming projects. After all, mass entertainment action movies have been a little too flippant with terrorism anyway (IMO of course).
However, what I don't want to see is the skyline digitally altered from existing films that have already been released. Dan Brecher posted in another thread that Swordfish has been pulled from distribution in UK theatres, and one has to wonder if it won't be altered in some fashion for its home video release. I'd also hate to see an hysterical situation ensue whereupon films like the Die Hard pictures are pulled from distribution on video.

 

[David Oliver]

Last night I just happened to turn to Comedy Central to try and get a break from it all and it was right when The Daily Show was starting. The opening is a night shot of New York with the Twin Towers prominently at the forefront. It seemed sad just watching that small bit.

 

[LarryDavenport]

I wonder when we'll get a new Daily Show or Politically Incorrect, since they deal with topical stuff.
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[Kevin Leonard]

quote: I wonder when we'll get a new Daily Show or Politically Incorrect, since they deal with topical stuff.[/quote]
I stopped watching Politically Incorrect a long time ago, but I don't think having Maher and his guests talking about it a week or two from now wouldn't be out of the question.
As for The Daily Show, what sucks is that they were doing all-new episodes this week. On Monday's show, Jon Stewart mentioned something about their "first day back." Since there is no way you can put an amusing spin on what happened yesterday, I wouldn't expect a new episode of TDS until the situation has died down a bit.
I seem to recall that TDS made Oklahoma City bombing jokes only after McVeigh had been caught, tried and sentenced, and even then they were pretty light with their remarks.
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[Edited last by Kevin Leonard on September 12, 2001 at 06:17 PM]

 

[Jeff Graebner]

I'm also pretty sure the David Letterman intro has a "flyover" of NY that passes the twin towers.

I had Monday night's airing of the Letterman show (which was a rerun) recorded on my TiVo and decided to watch it last night as a bit of an escape from the continuous news coverage.
The very first thing you see as the show begins is a shot of the NYC skyline with the twin towers prominently visible right in the center of the shot. Although it is less noticible, the towers are also visible in the backdrop behind the desk.
It seems pretty likely that a new/altered opening and set will be considered necessary once he resumes taping new shows.
-Jeff

 

[Trace Downing]

Peter Jennings talked about an hour ago, and confirmed that Tim Allen's movie has been postponed. He also said that Warner Bros. has pulled Collateral Damage from release indefinitely!!!
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[Kevin Fox]

I was curious about what will happen to Dick Wolf's planned 5-hour Law & Order miniseries next year. It was supposed to feature the casts of all three shows dealing with a bio-terrorism plot in New York City. Granted, it's not bombs or crashing aircraft, but I think any mention of NYC and terrorism will hit a little too close to home for New Yorkers. I'm guessing they'll cancel or drastically rework it.
While I understand how sensitive people will be in the wake of this horror, the trouble with postponing and cancelling all these shows and movies is that we are changing our lives because of terrorism—exactly what the scum want us to do.
I, for one, don't want to give the bastards an inch. On the other hand, I don't reside in NYC or Washington, D.C., and so I can't claim to fully comprehend the depth of this tragedy.
Frustrating...

 

[JohnS]

Remember we also have Air Force One Superbits coming out OCt 9TH and Rush Hour 2 has a bomb going off in that building tower in the begining.
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[Douglas Bailey]

The worst example I've seen... yesterday, while watching the TV news, I received in the mail the copy I'd ordered of Julie Salomon's book The Devil's Candy. This book, originally published in 1991, details the making of the film version of The Bonfire of the Vanities and shows in some detail what a disaster that film became.
On the back cover of the current paperback edition, there's a blurb from Kirkus Reviews that says:
"Like watching a World Trade Center tower topple onto Wall Street."
Ugh.
I suspect the person who wrote that blurb is wishing it could be taken back somehow. I'm sure it'll disappear from future editions.
doug

 

[Joel Mack]

He also said that Warner Bros. has pulled Collateral Damage from release indefinitely!!!

Someone should tell the AMC in Omaha. I was astounded to see the trailer for "Collateral Damage" tonight before "Rock Star". It was...uncomfortable...
Of course, they still have all the posters for CD, "Big Trouble", and the "Spider-Man" teaser up, too...
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[David Prior]

As the days slowly churn by and we try to shake off the daze we're all in, I expect our emotions will go through some profound changes. Right now, for me at least, I'm constantly whiplashing between sorrow and rage, as well as shame for how much I want to see blood spilled in revenge. I also have great fear, not just of further attacks, but that we will willingly give up our essential liberties and our way of life in exchange for greater security. If that happens, the terrorists win.
In days to come, I expect that I will feel more resolve and will begin to feel the ground beneath my feet again. I also expect I'll want to watch movies again. And when that happens, I'll want to see bright, life-affirming movies, because it will hopefully remind me that that is the truth of the world. I'll also want to see movies that are dark and terrifying and unpleasant, because that's also the truth of the world (remember that film noir and the golden age of horror didn't pick up steam until the wake of Pearl Harbor and the start of the war). But above all, I'll want to see anything depicting Americans doing some serious ass-kicking. And if in the dark I see the twin towers of the World Trade Center glittering back at me, I'll cheer like hell.

 

[Philip Hamm]

It will be difficult for me to watch anything that depicts a "terrible" terrorist plot again. Nothing commited to film that I know of is comparable to the horror of the reality. Die Hard with a Vengeance for instance will be unwatchable.
Recently, I pulled out an old LP record of a live charity concert "The Secret Policemen's Other Ball". It contained the song "I Don't Like Mondays". The song, originally an amusing black comedy and minor hit, is now horribly unlistenable to me. I was saddened and thought of all the terrible school shootings. Action movies that deal with terrorist atrocities will now have a similar effect on me. I'm sure that many movies in the pipeline will be cancelled or scrapped. I hope that the ironically named "Collateral Damage" is never released and written off as a loss by Warners.
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Philip Hamm
Pat's the best!™
AIM: PhilBiker
click on the little green house to see the evolution of my home theater!

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

The song, originally an amusing black comedy and minor hit, is now horribly unlistenable to me. I was saddened and thought of all the terrible school shootings

That song was inspired by an actual crime and was meant to be ironic, but not comic. The adage that comedy is tragedy viewed from a distance is depressingly apt in this case.
Regards,
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Ken McAlinden
Livonia, MI USA

 

[MickeS]

I hope that the ironically named "Collateral Damage" is never released and written off as a loss by Warners.

I hope not. Terrorism is real, has been for a long time, and it has to be allowed to be depicted in movies. Tens of thousands of people are murdered every year in the US, yet murder is something that is in almost every movie.
Just because we hate it in real life doesn't mean we can't watch it in movies, if it's handled correctly.
I hope the movie is renamed, postponed (at least I don't want to see it right now), but that it's eventually released.
/Mike

 

[Dana Fillhart]

Doug, that is really creepy.
Here's the text about it at amazon.com:

It's going to be very hard to avoid thinking of this tragedy when obscure items like this will pop up time to time; it will be even harder for those like myself who live in the area as we drive by the NY skyline every day; it will be hardest of all for those who have lost friends and loved ones.

 

[LarryDavenport]

To give myself a breather I switched over to channel 13 (Seattle) last night to watch back to back episodes of Friends before returning to watch network coverage. Both episodes were from two seasons ago (a couple episodes before Chandler proposed). The WTC was not shown in any shot or in the opener. I know this is trivial, but sometimes trivial stuff pops into your mind.
I wonder if Friends will mention the bombing. If you think about it, Chandler would probably work in the neighborhood of the WTC, though at 8:45 am he would probably still be having coffee in the Village.
On the one hand I don't want Friends to have an "issue" oriented show, but then I think "How could they not?"
On a side note, I wonder if we'll ever see the episode of The Simpsons again where Homer visits the WTC.
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[MickeS]

I wonder if we'll ever see the episode of The Simpsons again where Homer visits the WTC.

I don't see why we shouldn't. We can't just pretend it was never there!
/Mike

 

[Iain Lambert]

We will (and should) probably see it eventually, but there are so many corny jokes about the towers that it just won't seem funny at all for a while.

 

[DeborahK]

I have read through this post with interest.
A few observations:
1. I live and work in Los Angeles proper and we have been in basic lock-down mode since all this happened. Things are slowly returning to normal here, but I think heightened security -- as well as story-line -- concerns may have played some part in the temporary suspension of television production here. While it appears that financial, military, and government functions were the chosen targets of Tuesday's attacks, I am sure I am not the only one who worried that our "craven and unholy" entertainment industry might also make a nice target for people waging a war of terror against our way of life.
This city is also one big location to a lot of the television (and film) productions 24/7 and shows such as "24" have been shooting all over town for weeks. L.A.'s downtown particularly looks much like the downtown of any big US city and it often is used as a location in shows/films that have big city settings, be they New York or Dalles. Show's such as Fox's "Angel," which takes place in L.A., also film there constantly. Tuesday, L.A.'s downtown was basically evacuated and shut down because we, too, have financial and government functions concentrated there. I think people here are very nervous and probably with some reason.
2. Reading over all your thoughts on the ways in which all of this has and will effect a 1,000+ pieces of entertainment from "Friends" to "Collateral Damage" underscored for me the degree to which small and large screen productions are important cultural snapshots of particular eras -- not only in the physical landscapes they incorporate, but also in the cultural values, attitudes,and dispositions of the particular historical period in which they are/were created. This is especially true of main stream blockbuster films that aim themselves at mass audiences, because we can assume that they are meant to appeal to some widely shared values and concerns of our society.
3. That having been said, does it strike anyone else here think that a lot of these films from the last 10 to 15 years that have been discussed heresound depressingly similar? Maybe it's true that there are no new ideas ...
Deborah
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