The events of September 11 have had a powerful effect on the movie and television industries. As the entertainment world is slowly getting back into the swing of things, it is starting to look more closely at the content of its products. Upside-down flags, images of the World Trade Center, and most shows and movies dealing with the theme of terrorism have been delayed or reconsidered.

The new Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, for instance, called ``Collateral Damage,'' was to be released on October 5th but has been pulled due to its plot, which has an uncanny resemblance to the events of the past few weeks. Arnold, in the movie, plays a fireman who sees his wife and son die when a terrorist bombs the building they are in; the rest of the movie is based on his quest for vengeance.

Touchstone Pictures has postponed the premiere of its comedy film ``Big Trouble,'' starring Tim Allen until some time in 2002. Based on a novel by humorist Dave Barry, the movie follows a group of people who find a mysterious suitcase which leads them to uncover a terrorist. While it is a comedy, it contains a scene involving a bomb on a plane.

The ending of ``Men in Black 2,'' which was due to appear soon, is being rewritten to change its dramatic conclusion. Previously, the film showed an alien life-form being apprehended at the base of one of the Twin Towers.

Even the advertisement of movies has been interrupted. Posters for the movie ``Spider-Man'' have been recalled because of its image portraying the Twin Towers reflected in the super hero's eyes. Sony Pictures Entertainment also pulled trailers for the film that showed Spider-Man apprehending bad guys by catching them in a web spun between the towers. Ads for DreamWorks' movie ``The Last Castle,'' a militant prison drama, have placed the movie on the caution list because of the upside-down flag they contain and its symbolism as a sign of distress.

Extensive news coverage, interviews, and other programs related to the tragedy have been monopolizing television air time and preventing the televised advertisement of films. Some movies, such as Warner Brothers' new Denzel Washington film, ``Training Day,'' have been delayed in their releases not because of content but because the studio believes it has a good film, and wants to be sure that the film is afforded the advertising coverage it needs.

Other areas of entertainment have also been affected. Many television networks switched more fatalistic movies for comedies like ``Mrs. Doubtfire'' and ``Nine Months'' out of respect for the recent tragedy. Many shows are being affected as well. Six months ago, Fox released a drama series called ``The Lone Gunman,'' the pilot of which included a plane programmed to crash into the WTC as part of a government plot. In the show, the government planned to blame the incident on terrorists, and disaster was only avoided as a struggle in the cockpit ensued and the plane cleared the towers by inches. ``The Lone Gunman'' was quickly cancelled. Other new television programs scheduled to come out this season, such as ABC's ``Alias,'' CBS' ``The Agency,'' and Fox's ``24'', have been cancelled because of their terrorist-oriented programming content.

Basically, the entertainment industry seems to believe that the public is not yet ready to go back to the standard amount of violence in the media. The networks and movie-makers are doing their best to respond adequately to the shift in the public's interest, even at great cost to themselves.

This naturally begs the question of whether we will ever be ready to go back. We have seen things happen that we previously associated with the make-believe world of Hollywood. All around us we have heard people saying of the recent events: ``it just feels like a movie.'' Is it be possible that the things that used to entertain us are no longer as amusing as we used to think?