The entertainment industry reacts.

September 13, 2001 3:22 PM

The entertainment industry reacts. Fox's "24" delayed. "Spider-Man" twin towers scene removed. Ah-nold's "Collateral Damaged" and Tim Allen's "Big Trouble" postponed indefinitely, TV skyline shots being re-edited, televised action movies being replaced with more humor and upbeat programming. How long will it last? And having been probed for so long, will the gaming industry do anything in turn?
posted by teradome (32 comments total)

I was really looking forward to 24, collateral damage and, most of all big trouble. I'd still like to see them, however, I'm sure if and when I did, certain events in the flick would proably shake me up a little bit. Any shot right now of an explosion makes me go into a blank stare.
posted by tomplus2 at 3:39 PM on September 13, 2001

tracking down the spiderman trailer with the twin towers scene is difficult, since i tried to do it earlier today. and you know, it didn't even dawn on me until someone at lunch started talking about movies they were wanting to see. i saw it back in july, and all i thought then was "hmm, cool." now it just feels... i don't know....



i posted more stills of the twin towers scene at my site, if anyone wants to see it in glorious 480 by 260.
posted by grabbingsand at 3:45 PM on September 13, 2001

If only they could postpone Tim Allen indefinitely.
posted by Skot at 3:45 PM on September 13, 2001

I was worried that Big Trouble would be postponed, given the content. I was realy looking forward to that. I agree with the decision, though, because to show things like that so soon after is definitely in bad taste. But I do worry about how long the entertainment industry will be affected. I mean, essentially, they've been censored against violent content. Which of course is their bread and butter.

This reminds me that a few years down the line, some major studio is going to try to make a blockbuster movie out of this. This will undoubtedly make millions and millions of dollars. I'll be incredibly pissed unless every cent of profit for this goes to some sort of disaster relief, or rebuilding effort. Otherwise, this would just further prove that Hollywood is evil.

I guess I'm getting a little ahead of myself.
posted by Bernreuther at 3:50 PM on September 13, 2001

Any one know if next week's season premiers are going to be on or not? It doesn't look like it so far.
posted by Katy Action at 3:52 PM on September 13, 2001

i'm going to miss the Spiderman scenes.

what do you all think - is this a response you stand behind? or should we hold on to reminders of what the past used to be? i don't know, i feel like i want to remember what the skyline looked like.

i do appreciate that Hollywood is trying not to be tacky (for a change). but part of me also wants to carry on, watch action flicks and tense political thriller tv shows, laugh at silly things, bemoan Tim Allen, play violent video games...

i'm sort of resisting this popular notion that "everything is different now" or "this changes everything."

i'm scared of what people mean when they say that.
posted by mjane at 3:57 PM on September 13, 2001

This reminds me that a few years down the line, some major studio is going to try to make a blockbuster movie out of this

Quick consistancy check:
Was making and profiting from the film "Pearl Harbor" evil?
posted by marknau at 4:03 PM on September 13, 2001

From what I've heard, the Spider-Man trailer with the WTC scene isn't from the movie itself. Raimi created the trailer as a stand-alone piece. There's a chance that not much will have to be changed in the film, then.
posted by poseur at 4:03 PM on September 13, 2001

NBC at least is postponing its new season by a week.
posted by kirkaracha at 4:05 PM on September 13, 2001

Was making and profiting from the film "Pearl Harbor" evil?

Yes.
posted by webmutant at 4:07 PM on September 13, 2001

Thanks kirkaracha.
posted by Katy Action at 4:08 PM on September 13, 2001

I want to comment on the Pearl Harbor thing. My boy friend's Japanese, and even though he was harrassed a lot because of his race, that movie seemed to give more people more of a reason to harrass him, even people he didn't know on the internet. However, most of the people on AOL were really stupid and called it "Pear" Harbor, so I think it was just a retaliation from the movie. I think if Hollywood makes millions off of this, so be it. They've just about made millions off of every other bad thing that's happened in this world, from every war that America's been in, right up to school shootings. It's their way. They aren't that original, if you ask me.
posted by Katy Action at 4:12 PM on September 13, 2001

a few years ago i wrote a graphic novel called 'when the towers fall'.

needless to say, it will now never be published.
posted by jcterminal at 4:12 PM on September 13, 2001

you know, I have been thinking for the last couple of days about that stunt on Fear Factor where the idiots (oops i meant contestants) each had to go out a window on the 12th floor of a building and jump(yes they were attatched to some sort of safety gear that slowed them at the last minute).....there is no way in Hades I think I could ever sit thru that show ever again now....after this the the stupidity and sheer bad taste of the premise of that show is unmistakably blatant....
posted by bunnyfire at 4:13 PM on September 13, 2001

My company is making two Spiderman games, and we already know that we have to change it. The FMVs with the Twin Towers are going to go, and one level that has Spidey racing all over the city to defuse bombs is going to go, too.

Things are going to change elsewhere, I'd hope, but my industry isn't known for being run by bright people.
posted by RakDaddy at 4:24 PM on September 13, 2001

Upcoming movies on Big Trouble
posted by feelinglistless at 4:32 PM on September 13, 2001

I'm sure that us X-Files fans will never, ever, see a televised repeat of this Lone Gunmen episode.
posted by skwm at 4:54 PM on September 13, 2001

Actually, I'm kinda upset that this is happening. Not because I don't understand the need to respect people's feelings (I do) or because I badly want to see any of these films (I don't), but because I think you're in dangerous territory when you sustain the illusion that if we alter our representation of things, that somehow alters the reality.
posted by juv3nal at 5:05 PM on September 13, 2001

i'm sort of resisting this popular notion that "everything is different now" or "this changes everything."

i'm scared of what people mean when they say that.

You should be.
posted by rushmc at 5:15 PM on September 13, 2001

The Spiderman trailer is here.
posted by perplexed at 5:28 PM on September 13, 2001

thanks, andre. i was sad i would never see it again.

i remember the feeling when i first saw it in the theatre. seems extra-special and poignant now.
posted by mjane at 6:19 PM on September 13, 2001

I'll agree with juv3nal on this one. No need to filter and cut everything or anything. I wouldn't want someone filtering my programming of every instance or reference to explosions if I was somehow caught in a horrifying explosion. I'm pretty sure people in general can handle deciding what not to watch on their own.
posted by yupislyr at 6:28 PM on September 13, 2001

I hope this also takes some of the wind out of all the reality shows. People need to start looking at what's happening around themselves and around world, instead of gorging themselves on all the garbage that's clogging the airwaves. We need to connect with real reality, instead of losing ourselves in contrived reality.
posted by curiousg at 6:58 PM on September 13, 2001

It seems to me that seeing the twin towers in media will remind me of the event, and keep it in my heart. Editing them out of my senses seems like the scenes in '1984' in which they went back and changed newspapers..
posted by fnirt at 6:58 PM on September 13, 2001

I don't see this as the "nanny state"....I see this, for myself anyway, as a change in what I can bear to see, or consider as entertainment...I even asked my youngest daughter, aged 14, her opinion...she doubts that shows like Fear Factor have much of a future.
posted by bunnyfire at 7:04 PM on September 13, 2001

I wonder if Sex and the City will change its intro since it includes many views of the WTC....
posted by kiridamo at 7:40 PM on September 13, 2001

Jeez, I hope FX starts syndicating the first season of Buffy on the 24th as scheduled — I was thinking of that as my birthday present, and it'd really cheer me up.

HBO had the sense to replace "Turbulence II" with something innocuous today — but they went right ahead and ran "Fight Club" last night!!! Are they dim?!
posted by nicwolff at 7:53 PM on September 13, 2001

And, jeez again — I just watched that Spiderman trailer, and while the mere sight of the towers isn't offensive, I don't think I could watch Spidey jumping out of windows and off roofs and hurtling towards the ground... over and over again... for an hour and a half... after seeing people do it for real. And I just bet he saves falling civilians once or twice, too. Yipes.
posted by nicwolff at 8:01 PM on September 13, 2001

I've been thinking. It's probably okay if, for the next few months, new movies and TV shows try to stay away from the subject a bit. However, I have a BIG problem with existing works being bowdlerized out of a misguided attempt at sensitivity.

For example, the article mentions the movie Swordfish being pulled from theaters in the UK, presumably because it contains scenes of terrorists, hostages, and spectacular explosions that kill innocent people. I can understand pulling it from theaters temporarily, but since this movie has not had a video release yet, they could quite easily edit it so that all future versions are softened up. If so, that would bother me.

I can just imagine Hollywood going crazy over this, and going back and removing any and all refrences to the NY skyline, terrorists, bombs, or airline disasters from all movies and TV shows ever made. Think that's far-fetched? Just look at how heavily censored all the WB and MGM cartoons from the 40s and 50s are today. You can't get them in their original form any more, because all potentially-offensive jokes have been removed. And some movies, such as Disney's Song of the South, have been removed from cirulation altogether. Hell, Steven Speilberg is planning to remove all references to guns from E.T. for the 20-the anniversary re-relase.

The idea that even more of the 20th century's culture might disappear down the memory hole is very disturbing.
posted by Potsy at 8:22 PM on September 13, 2001

perhaps a minor point, but in defense of fight club, let's remember that the space monkeys made a point of clearing the target buildings of all personnel prior to detonation. for that matter, the only death in the movie is that of robert paulsen, one of their own. i am not saying that it was wise timing to run a movie that features the destruction of buildings, but this is one case where reality is far more grotesque than fiction.
posted by grabbingsand at 9:19 PM on September 13, 2001

I wonder if there will even be a market for disaster/action movies after this. Hollywood never concieved a plot this dramatic. It goes way beyond bad taste - the entire genre may be crippled for decades.
posted by username at 7:12 AM on September 14, 2001

More news on Sci Fi Wire. The ending of Men in Black 2 will be reworked to remove the WTC. Fox replaced the planned Sept. 14 broadcast of The X-Files movie--which features an Oklahoma-City-style bombing--and a Sept. 16 screening of Independence Day...
posted by curiousg at 4:51 PM on September 14, 2001