America at this moment is in a time of crisis and pain. The attack on The World Trade Center and the Pentagon has, for the moment (and I hope for a long time) brought our country together. We are at a historic moment similar to the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, the attack that brought us into World War II.
During World War II, U.S. citizens at the homefront, worried about their loved ones fighting overseas, and worried about the future of their country, found solace in entertainment. They had popular music, they had the radio and they had the movies. On the radio they could hear big bands, or Jack Benny, Burns and Allen and many other popular programs. At the movies, they could see so many of their favorites, old and new, including Abbott and Costello, whose clever brand of comedy helped cheer up a nation.
I was not alive at that time, so I do not know how long it took for people to resume something of a normal life. What I do know is that at this moment, I am having a difficult time generating any interest in any form of entertainment. So many things that I loved on Monday, September 10th, suddenly became useless baggage I would have to toss aside for a while on Tuesday, September 11th. I have not watched a non-news television program, nor have I listened to non-news radio. And I have not watched any movie, black and white or otherwise. It is too difficult for me right now.
I know there will come a time that my guard will come down and I will again devote at least a little time each week to my former interests, and when that time comes, I hope American popular culture has started changing. I don't want to hear any more songs that preach violence, I don't want to see any more movies that exploit violence, I don't want to watch any television shows that feature massive violence. I don't want any more offensively stupid comedies, overproduced but anemic songs that have nothing to say, or so-called "reality" TV shows. I got all the reality I needed for the rest of my life in this past week.
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