Then I logged onto www.moviegoods.com, a company that sells movie posters and figured out the difference. The studio had removed the image of the World Trade Center from the background on this revised one sheet.
The change is just one of several cases where Hollywood is trying not to upset people directly affected by the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
Movies are not the only ones being affected but syndicated television shows as well. The "Seinfeld" (1989-1998) episode, for example, where George’s fiancée dies after licking too many envelopes was pulled because of the anthrax scare. As for the episode of "The Simpsons" (1989-Present) where Homer drives to New York City to get his car which just happens to be sitting in between the twin towers, perhaps the only time you’ll see it now is when Fox releases it on DVD.
Then there is the 20th anniversary re-release of "E.T. The Extra Terrestrial" (1982) due out next March. According to an article on Entertainment Weekly’s website, the line where Elliot’s mother, played by Dee Wallace, tells her son that she won’t have him going out on Halloween dressed up as a terrorist will be deleted.
When two students went on a shooting rampage at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado in April 1999, the entertainment industry that includes rock stars, video game giants, network television and Hollywood studios came under fire.
Concerned parents and congress pointlessly blamed the industry saying the stuff they produce causes kids to commit murder when the real fingers should have been pointed at the student’s parents.
About the only thing that came out of the tragedy was Miramax Films pulled the Shakespeare inspired movie, "O" (2001) from theatrical release that year because the film ends with a shooting at a private school. (Lionsgate released the film this year in August).
Then Sept. 11, 2001 comes along and suddenly Hollywood is trying to be sensitive to people’s feelings.
The fact is movies about terrorism and disasters aren’t going to go away. You would think after seeing all the carnage shown live on the big four television networks and CNN that week would be enough to make one want to rent a comedy.Ironically though, in the days following the terrorist attacks the top movies rented at Blockbuster Video and other movie rental chains were movies about terrorism. They included "Die Hard" (1988), "True Lies" (1994), "Executive Decision" (1996) and "The Siege" (1998).
Why? Because people wanted to see Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger kick the living you know what out of the villains.
As a society, we were shocked by what we witnessed live on network television, but we’ve become so accustomed to seeing death and destruction in movies and TV shows that what we see in real life only phases us for a moment.
I didn’t want to see "Apocalypse Now Redux" (1979) in the days after the attacks but that didn’t stop me from going to see it a few weeks later.
Despite the changes Hollywood is making, there are signs the studios are returning to a certain sense of normalcy. NBC’s "Third Watch" (1999-2005) did a three-part story dealing with the before and aftereffects of the World Trade Center disaster.
Cheers were heard in the audience during the box office dud, "Glitter" (2001). The reason they applauded was because of a scene that featured the World Trade Center not because the film marked the debut of singer Mariah Carey.
DVD owners can rejoice now that Universal Pictures announced they would release both the original 1982 version and next year’s director’s cut edition of E.T. when they debut on digital video disc at the end of 2002. People like me will be able to watch the original version as we remember seeing it.
The real test of the box office though will come next February when Warner Brothers releases "Collateral Damage" (2002). The film, which was pulled in the wake of 9-11, features Arnold Schwarzenegger as a fireman whose family is killed in a terrorist attack.
©11/21/01
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