Meet the Street: How Sept. 11 Might Change the Movies

Violence, as we all well know, is big business. In the wake of the terrorist acts of Sept. 11, Hollywood is now faced with the moral and financial dilemma of how to portray violence responsibly and with sensitivity to those who were lost in the attacks and their relatives.

Terry George Hollywood screenwriter

Recent Meet the Streets

comScore Networks' Gian Fulgoni

Hoover Institution's David R. Henderson

Thomson Financial Market Strategy's Joe Kalinowski

LowerMyBills.com's Matthew Coffin

Already, several film and TV projects have been delayed or shelved indefinitely, including the latest Arnold Schwarzenegger blockbuster, Collateral Damage, which was originally scheduled to be released Oct. 3. The Warner Bros. movie, which is about a fireman who tries to avenge the death of his family in a terrorist bombing, is now scheduled to be released early next year.

Terry George, a Hollywood screenwriter, producer and director, was one of the writers on Collateral Damage and also of the Oscar-nominated In the Name of the Father. Here he shares his thoughts on how the events of Sept. 11 are likely to change the movies that get made, not just in terms of how violence is portrayed, but also in how sensitive they are to foreign sensibilities.

TSC: Do you think Warner Brothers should have shelved your movie, Collateral Damage, after the horrendous acts of Sept. 11? Couldn't they just have let the moviegoers decide whether or not this was something they wanted to see?

George: No. I agree with what they did at the time because Warner Brothers has a huge investment in this, and they were acutely aware of people's sensibilities. And the last thing we would want would be for people in general, and particularly relatives and friends of those who died on Sept. 11, to be offended. So, I think they were right to delay it, and pick a better time to release it. As far as I know, they are planning to release it [next year].

TSC: Do you expect that the public, following this tragedy, is still going to like movies that have lots of violence in them?

George: Regarding violence in movies, I think that some of it is surreal, almost comic book, while other movies use violence to enhance the reality. So I think, given that distinction, [people making films] with reality-based violence will become more cautious. And I think one of the major problems that the movie industry now faces -- particularly the big studios that produce the mega-blockbusters -- is that the reality of events on Sept. 11 so overshadowed and engaged and shocked this nation and the world, that any attempt to come close to, or duplicate, or re-enact a similar scenario is going to look pretty foolish and pathetic. ...