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After he saw with his own eyes the devastation at the towers, Michael Specter of The New Yorker testifies, "I didn't feel that I was in any danger; I felt like an extra in a movie, waiting for Bruce Willis to come and save the day." "The movie comparisons came thick and fast," wrote Richard Littlejohn in Britain's The Sun. "Deep Impact, Armageddon, Airport, Air Force One, Die Hard, Con Air. Only this time there was no Harrison Ford, Bruce Willis or Nicolas Cage to save the day in the last reel. This was The Day The Earth Caught Fire."

The Chicago Tribune published a list of upcoming releases and television seasons slated for delays or cancellation due to the tragedies. This long but abbreviated list demonstrates a public ravenous for over-the-top violence, terrorism, and conspiracy-theories. It also shows just how central and symbolic New York's towers really were to the world. (Contrary to what previews have already promised, we won't see Spiderman webslinging between the WTC towers next summer.) All of this canceling and revising—Friends may even update its skyline for already-finished episodes—may well just be a momentary rush to save face. It may just be a temporary message that reads: "We are experiencing technical difficulties. Please be patient. We will return soon to our regularly scheduled program of hyperviolence and digitally animated devastation." But Greg Killday at The Hollywood Reporter remarks, "There are indications that in the wake of the tragedy, the film industry might begin to reassess its dependence on its ever-escalating images of destruction." Can you imagine?

J. Robert Parks (The Phantom Tollbooth) is encouraged by the re-examination occurring within the industry. "I think they're just acknowledging that the context has changed. As certain words and language change in meaning, so do images and ideas. Terrorism was, for Americans, a rather remote concept and therefore was perfect for escapist entertainment. Now that it is horrifyingly close, its meaning has changed and can now no longer be escapist in nature. The World Trade Center used to be a symbol of strength and vitality. Now it is a symbol of destruction and horror. Since the meaning has changed, it can no longer be used in the way it has been. Furthermore, the nation's 'needs' have changed. Entertainment was the highest goal before Tuesday. Now we have a terrible need for commentary."

Doug Cummings (Chiaroscuro) cautions against overreaction. "Apparently, the studio thinking is that audiences can't handle their heroic, action-packed movies about terrorists now that America has actually become the target of terrorist violence. I'd like to think audiences could judge for themselves whether a movie represents terrorism in an appropriate manner regardless of the 'season.' What is inappropriate now should be inappropriate at all times."

But at Movie Parables, Michael Elliott is not optimistic about finding Hollywood spurred to more responsible artmaking: "For the most part, 'Hollywood' is less concerned with the making of art than it is the making of money. Thus, what we see on the screen is often driven not by the artist's heart but by the financier's greed. The makers and promoters of such films do not look to our weaknesses with an aim to strengthen them and make us better, they exploit our weaknesses for their own gain. [Movies will change] only if the motivation behind making them changes. Here's God's exhortation: 'Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.(Ephesians 4:29)'"

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September (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45