Saturday, May 12, 2007

no one says '9/11.' no one needs to.

no one says '9/11.' no one needs to.from ny times: On Tina Fey’s NBC sitcom "30 Rock," recently, her character, the fictional NBC producer Liz Lemon, settles in with friends to watch the network’s "Salute to Fireworks" in Rockefeller Plaza. As marching-band music plays, they see explosions and smoke rising over a monolithic high-rise tower in New York. "Oh boy," Liz says dryly, "that’s going to scare a lot of people."

That is probably the first really funny 9/11 joke to appear on a prime-time network show, and the humor works because there is no need to explain why anyone would be scared. The scene combines the two latest, surprisingly effective twists in entertainment’s use of the terror attacks: Audacious sitcoms and sketches are occasionally turning them into hilarious comedies; dramatic films, from the smart little thriller "Civic Duty" to the Mark Wahlberg action movie "Shooter," are routinely taking what is best described as an unspoken 9/11 approach, referring to the events without using the actual words.

Allusions are cropping up more often because 9/11 and its aftermath — from color-coded terror alerts to removing shoes at the airport — have become part of ordinary life. But that is probably not the major reason. As the fallout from the attacks, bundled under the term "war on terror," became unquestionably politicized, the images of 9/11 also became less sacrosanct, fair game for mainstream entertainment.

No comments:

Post a Comment

fair use notice: this site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. we are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, & social justice issues, etc. we believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US copyright law. In accordance with title 17 usc section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.