Where Were You When the Title Card Stopped Turning?
Liberal blogger TBogg has a hilarious blow-by-blow account of conservative activist Jason Apuzzo's quest to discover whether the ending of "United 93" had been altered by the studio. Originally the film ended with a title card reading: "America's war on terror had begun." But The Village Voice reported that the title card had been changed for public screenings, to "Dedicated to the memory of all those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001." This sent Apuzzo reeling.
… we now know that there apparently is a 'chill wind' blowing on free speech in America, and that 'chill wind' is coming from Hollywood's executive suites, where apparently some thoughts still aren't allowed…
Of course, we will hear no cries of 'censorship' from liberals about all this, because the cultural Left wishes to de-couple the emotionally shocking events of 9/11 with the ongoing War on Terror. The Thought Police have won on this one, and it's a shame.
As it happened, the studio didn't cut the title card. Director Paul Greengrass did, because "when I saw that particular card at the end, I thought 'that's not right' because that's going to divide people."
Apuzzo fixed his previous post on the subject with a shrug.
I understand Greengrass' desire to avoid making a 'political' statement, but the original postscript to his film simply states a fact: America's war on terror had, indeed, begun with the passengers of Flight 93 fighting back! It's not as if the postscript read: Vote for Giuliani in '08.
This crystalizes a view that's been fairly prevalent among pro-war journalists, critics, and bloggers. "United 93" is more than a movie—it's going to help the president and the war effort by reminding Americans of "That Day." Rush Limbaugh got a screening and predicted it would "refocus, for those who see it, the exact reason we are in the war on terror." Dennis Prager intimated that the people who won't like the movie are "those who don't want Americans to become aware of just how conscienceless, cruel and depraved our enemy is, or those who think that our enemies can always be negotiated with and therefore object to depicting Americans actually fighting back."