Posted by t o m at pcp01883508pcs.gambrl01.md.comcast.net on January 04, 2003 at 23:17:31:
In Reply to: What does RAIDERS have to do with 9/11? posted by Vincent on January 04, 2003 at 22:45:17:
: : TRUE LIES would be dodgy too, but it would have more of a chance to be released now than RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK.
: The only thing that would change RAIDERS is Spielberg's pledge after SCHINDLER'S LIST that he'd never use Nazis as comic villains again. What exactly about RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK would need to be changed due to 9/11?
Naturally, RAIDERS has nothing to do with 9/11, but in a politically correct Hollywood, a film with the following moments would never be made (and especially not by Mr. Spielberg):
See, there's this Russian/Jewish adventurer slicked out, SIERRA MADRE-style...except he's in Cairo. There's this really funny scene in which this adventurer is confronted by a slick, dangerous Arabic swordsman in the street.
Hilarity ensues as the white man pulls his piece and shoots the Arab guy dead. To punch the euphoric comedy home, the crowd of Egyptian locals FUCKING CHEER!!! Think about that.
Runner-up is that moment when the Russian/Jewish guy and an Aryan superman are fighting in the front seat of a covered pick-up. Since they are scuffling and driving, they manage to mow down a row of ladders along with the strong-backed Arabs hired by the Nazis (led on by a vain, amoral French dude with delusions of grandeur).
To the delight of all, an Arabic stuntman with a step-&-fetchit' "ooooodamn" expression falls onto their windshield and then blows away like a leaf. The Russkie/Jew and the NAZI share a grin over the silliness and then continue to fight.
: : Even in Ben Affleck's THE SUM OF ALL FEARS, the villains were changed from Clancy's Muslim extremists to European white supremacists.
: That change was made in the scripting stage, long before 9/11 happened. It had nothing to do with 9/11
While I'm sure that's true, I'm still curious as to why the change was made at all. Muslim extremism and anti-American "blowback" were already rife in the world long before 9/11/2K1 (I'm sure that the embassy bombings happened before or during SoAF's pre-production period).
Again, I haven't listened to the dvd commentary so I don't know if there's a stated reason for the change. I'm only wondering whether or not someone was trying to sidestep a hot button issue.