The United States has been at war for more than four years now. News outlets all over the world provide plenty of reminders of this fact.
Day after day we are updated about events unfolding in the Middle East and the well-being of our soldiers carrying out their duties. For the most part, I believe that the media is doing its job in keeping Americans informed of our status overseas. That is the job of the press: to inform the people.
But like other areas in our everyday lives, Americans are becoming desensitized to the actions and effects of this war, and certain entertainment outlets may be overstepping their boundries.
Only five years after the tragic events of 9/11 unfolded on the island of Manhattan in New York City, Hollywood released the film “World Trade Center,” the true story of two New York police officers’ involvement the day the towers were hit. After the second tower was struck, they and others in their unit were trapped in the fallen wreckage of the Twin Towers.
Unlike thousands of others, the two men whom the film is based on survived. The point, though, is that thousands of others did lose their lives. People lost husbands, wives, daughters, sons, fathers, mothers, friends and so on. The number of lives that this event not only touched, but crippled and destroyed, is so much larger than the actual death toll of that attack.
This week, “Rendition,” a movie about the threat of terrorists comes out. It is yet another depiction of what some of our fellow citizens are dealing with right now.
Many stories are told by the entertainment industry every year through motion pictures, television shows, documentaries and books.
Society has a thirst to know more. We especially want to know the true stories of momentous occasions. We’ve seen plenty of these over the years. Think of the movies you have seen or that were widely watched that were based on true stories. Stories of underdogs, fights and struggles, triumphs and love litter the big screen.
Think also how you feel when you watch a certain kind of movie. A thriller may keep you in suspense. A romance may make you feel hopeful.
Now, think about how you would feel if you had any kind of connection to anyone in the World Trade Center six years ago. Think about how you would feel if you had siblings or children who attended Columbine High School in 1999. And perhaps a feeling that involves more at our university is that of the worry for your friends and family in service overseas. If you can identify with any of these events, would you want to pay $8 to see it glorified in film a couple of years later? Would you want others to be so calloused to the goings on that it does not bother them at all to see it all played out?
The worry of our loved ones participating in the war grips us. It is enough that we are informed through news broadcasts and newspaper articles, but Hollywood has wasted as little time as possible capitalizing on the pain and suffering our nation is still feeling and living today.
So where does it stop? What are the boundaries? People blame so many school shootings on the violence in video games and other forms of media. How are these kinds of productions any different? Some might claim that the purpose is simply another way of informing others about the events in more detail. But you must remember that there are also people working on these features who are making lots of money from recent, popular, and horrifying stories. While you yourself may not feel much of a connection with the individual stories, there are those that do. And even if you are not directly involved, should you still be so okay with seeing it acted out in brutal detail?
Nearly 40 years after the plane crash in Huntington, W. Va., that took the lives of the Marshall University football team, a film about the incident was made. This is a story I heard most of my life from my parents. Nearly 40 years later without the aid of the entertainment industry, my parents were still talking about it. I’m sure they were not the only ones.
Some wounds never heal. There is no set time limit for how long a person needs to mourn. So soon after recent events and in the midst of current events, Hollywood romanticizes them.
In many cases this is not only insensitive but it also takes away the reality of the situations.
As a country we are still facing many struggles. Putting these stories out in the public eye in such a big way does nothing to help the situations we are facing. It is not for the purpose of informing. They are meant to make money and entertain.
By entertaining America with these stories we are only becoming more desensitized to the events themselves.

Author