Spielberg’s War of the Worlds and the Post-9/11 Influence

War of the Worlds, ©Paramount Pictures

The impact of 9/11 threw Hollywood into a state of confusion: the attacks, which had been viewed as frightening and unprecedented, caused an upstir of sensitivity and fraught reflection in American cinema. Images of the towers were removed from movie posters and trailers (most famously Sam Raimi’s Spiderman), the theory being that they might be too upsetting for American audiences still struggling to comprehend the attacks. American cinema has seldom depicted the attacks in any great detail, and for a number of years following the attacks recreation of the event has been seen as disrespectful and tasteless within a nation still suffering. In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, many films were postponed; elaborate action set-pieces of cities being destroyed became viewed as inappropriate, as were other films like the 2003 comedy View From the Top which focused on a woman’s desire to become a flight attendant. The concept of returning to 9/11 was seen as too traumatic, too soon for a grieving nation to be made to look back upon that day. Some film-makers pushed back against this stance and kept the images of the towers in their films — Spielberg’s A.I and Scorsese’s Gangs of New York, for example — but the overall mood seemed to be one of trying to avoid facing the reality of the loss.