Networks, Movies Cutting Images of New York Skyline
September 15, 2001 3:58 PM   Subscribe

Networks, Movies Cutting Images of New York Skyline I don't get it. Sort of like going through your family albums and digitally editing out loved ones who passed away.
posted by kd (30 comments total)
 
The spin doctors are at work. They look at us as sheeple, that we cannot handle ideas that involve rememberance of tradegy.....please.

They should leave the buildings in as a tribute. Our towers were our symbols, and eliminating them disgraces that memory.
posted by Benway at 4:19 PM on September 15, 2001


stupid. stupid and horrible.

fox decided not to show the x-files movie last night. another network (I don't remember which) isn't going to show independence day. maybe, for some, seeing those would make it more painful. but i was sort of looking forward to the x-files movie, tho i hated it in the theater.

I'm trying to avoid jingoism, but I could've gone for a little bit of blow-'em-up heroics.

and what Benway said, too. we're not children, idiots, or sheep.
posted by epersonae at 4:23 PM on September 15, 2001


"Some experts who study how media influence society fear that the changes are akin to Winston Smith's sanitizing of the past in "1984."

If we forget about it maybe it won't have happened? This is not good. Are school text books next?
posted by DBAPaul at 4:23 PM on September 15, 2001


Well said. When actors die we don't edit them from their films. The only possible reason would be so that relatives are not going to be reminded every so often how their loved ones y'know...
posted by feelinglistless at 4:27 PM on September 15, 2001


Well, one might argue that the emotions now brought up by the towers are not those initially intended by the advertisers/producers/artists. I mean, a mere locations-setting shot could cause tears to well up in the eyes of the audience, certainly not the artist's original intent. Is it really our place to criticize the artist for changing his or her work to bring it "up-to-date" ?
posted by Ptrin at 4:35 PM on September 15, 2001


Isn't the NY skyline pretty darn recognizable? Seeing the big empty spot where you know the twin towers used to stand may be just as likely to bring tears to your eyes, I think, in addition to the insult of pretending they weren't there.
posted by jenwells at 4:38 PM on September 15, 2001


Speaking of images, I recently peered into the future and found this picture of Osama's trial. (Futurama fans will definitely appreciate this).
posted by jeffbarr at 5:02 PM on September 15, 2001


I agree with jenwells - both the presence and the absence of the towers would bring up emotions. It would be one thing if they changed everything about the scene and avoided the New York skyline entirely, or re-shot it if they mean to update it, but cropping them out? Please. That's both insulting and wrong.

And when you consider that we've been bombarded with nonstop, wall-to-wall replayings of the crashes, the collapses, and the smoking rubble, why can't we handle a few reminders of what stood there before the tragedies?
posted by kd at 5:05 PM on September 15, 2001


another network...isn't going to show independence day.

I knew this cloud had to have a silver lining.
posted by Optamystic at 5:06 PM on September 15, 2001


While it does seem weird and a bit Orwellian, I have to say I understand. Last night I went to the movies and hearing the characters throw around the word "terrorist" wrenched my heart in a way I wouldn't have through possible prior to Tuesday.
posted by megnut at 5:09 PM on September 15, 2001


When actors die we don't edit them from their films.

No, when actors die, we digitally ADD them into the scenes.
posted by kd at 5:14 PM on September 15, 2001


This sort of practice would make Jurassic Park a really boring movie...
posted by fooljay at 5:18 PM on September 15, 2001


If this trend keeps up, they may never rerun that Simpsons ep when they went to NY.
posted by beto2g at 5:26 PM on September 15, 2001


I don't think they're going to digitally edit out the WTC, but rather just clip whole scenes that had the WTC in them. Still a stupid and disrespectful thing to do, IMHO, but less stupid than erasing them digitally.

I think removing the WTC from MS Flight Simulator 2002 is a good idea, but only for geographical accuracy. Making it configurable would be even better - you could check a checkbox to determine whether it's there or not.
posted by RylandDotNet at 5:27 PM on September 15, 2001


Here's some they missed....on the Law and Order web site. They'll probably be gone tomorrow...
posted by scotty at 5:38 PM on September 15, 2001


I stand corrected - they're just cutting the scenes. I'm still offended though.

Sheeple.
posted by kd at 5:56 PM on September 15, 2001


Both Spider-Man and Men In Black 2 supposedly have scenes that involve the WTC. MIB 2 is supposed to be edited or reshot, and I don't know what's happening with Spiderman.
posted by Cavatica at 6:05 PM on September 15, 2001


bought an old copy of Breakfast in Americaby the group Supertramp(released in 1979) for a dollar at the Salvation Army yesterday....only on the way home with it did I notice that the breakfast waitress on the front was a parody of the Statue of Liberty, with various breakfast items behind her compiled to form an image of the New York City skyline....complete with Twin Towers.......to top it off the scene was designed to appear to be viewed through an airplane window......I swear I never noticed any of that when I originally owned that album over 20 years ago.

There are too many reminders -we will NEVER get rid of them all.

Don't we get it yet? Things aren't going back to normal. Ever.
Normal is only a setting on the washing machine.....
posted by bunnyfire at 6:14 PM on September 15, 2001


Towers? What are you people talking about?
posted by rushmc at 6:48 PM on September 15, 2001


And yet no "War on Ignorance". Odd, that.
posted by Optamystic at 6:57 PM on September 15, 2001


New York? Never heard of it. Now that New Amsterdam, what a city!
posted by fooljay at 7:01 PM on September 15, 2001


I live in the New York-Alki area, myself. (That's Seattle's original name, "alki" being a local native word that means, approximately, "eventually.") We have our own little Statue of Liberty here, too...
posted by kindall at 7:43 PM on September 15, 2001


While I agree that revising movies and tv shows is a really stupid idea, I do have to say that I was at the movies today and one of the trailers that played before hand opened with a shot of the WTC area. I realize it was just to establish the location of the film, but I went to the movies today to get away from the war thing for awhile, and there it was right there with me. I could see a certain wisdom in pulling the images out of the that trailer -- after all, it wouldn't alter the actual movie, only the preview. But that sort of action falls far short of what is described in the article, which I still oppose.
posted by spilon at 8:54 PM on September 15, 2001


Okay, dropping the teaser/trailer for Spiderman is perfectly fine, in my opinion. Has everyone seen it already? It ends with a helicopter trapped in a giant spider web that is strung between the twin towers. It's big, and it's the center of attention. I think that would be a bit much to show right now.

As for removing the twin towers from upcoming TV scenes, it makes sense. If you want your TV show to look up to date, you try to make sure the scenery reflects it. I'm sorry, but the TC doesn't exist anymore, and putting it in a TV show that is supposed to occur beyond Sept 11 2001 will just end up looking anachronistic (or appearing here).

So what is the difference from filming a movie in 2002 and having no towers and filming a movie in 2001 and removing the towers before you release it to keep it up to date? It's not like they are going into movies that have already been viewed by the public and taking them out, is it?
posted by Grum at 9:34 PM on September 15, 2001


Because Grum , censoring media content because of this tradegy is absurd. The WTC was/is part of America, and we are not lemmings. The media is concerned about public backlash, and how many of us will riot from a dramatic image. Certainly not me.

In a related note, gaming companies are pulling the same content from online games as we speak.
posted by Benway at 10:01 PM on September 15, 2001


apologies, seems like the link won't work..

I'll post it here.

Dear Majestic Player,

EA has temporarily suspended service on Majestic. Given the recent national tragedy, we feel that some of the fictional elements in the game may not be appropriate at this time. We will contact you again concerning resumption of the game.

We appreciate your patience and understanding.

Regards,
The Majestic Team

posted by Benway at 10:06 PM on September 15, 2001


How many official portraits of royalty and coffee table books would we need to edit to remove the image of Lady Di who was killed so tragically?

As casually as we treat destruction and violence in this country -- especially on TV! -- are we too frail to view the ghostly images of a former NY skyline?

The producers of Spiderman feel that we are able to view violence and mayhem in their upcoming movie, but would buckle under the reality of viewing a pre-disaster New York.
posted by edwardko at 10:41 PM on September 15, 2001


skallas: They aren't censoring media content, they are just making sure the content is up to date with reality.

If I make a movie about modern day Berlin, I doubt I'm going to include a shot of the full Berlin Wall. Why? Because it doesn't exist anymore (except for those little memorial ones)! Same with the WTC. If I'm filming a TV show or movie that is supposed to represent a time in New York BEYOND September 11th, the WTC JUST DOESN'T EXIST.

there will always be a lag between what happens in reality and happened in a studio
But if they can digitally fix the scenery so that there is NO lag, what's wrong with that? Should we be upset that studios CAN keep their content up to date with reality?

As for people who are running around screaming "1984! 1984!" about updating unreleased movies/TV shows, give it a rest. It's not like they've gone into the archives and removed the WTC from the movie "Godspell" or "Baraka" (who have the WTC listed in their locations on IMDB). If they had gone and done that, it's a whole new ball game.
posted by Grum at 6:39 AM on September 16, 2001


Seconded. Editing unreleased works -- okay. Editing already-existing works -- bad, bad, bad!
posted by Potsy at 1:16 PM on September 17, 2001


if it's an integral or prominent part of the story, then i can understand reshooting or editing the film.

i don't think anyone watching the syndicated reruns of "Friends" would see the WTC and think, "man, this episode is so out of date." you can tell an episode is dated by the hair styles, clothing, and how much weight Matthew Perry's carrying.

and really, is anyone gonna sit through a movie and complain that it's supposed to take place in late 2001, but they just couldn't enjoy it because they saw the TC in the background in a couple of scenes?
posted by tolkhan at 3:03 PM on September 17, 2001


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