US Popculture without 9/11

Zoolander does better, probably gets an earlier sequal.
i had thought about bringing up Zoolander in my earlier post, but decided against it 'cuz i couldn't think of anything to say :p

one that occurs in that same thought, though, is that the song Bodies by Drowning Pool may be a bit more well-known. that song in particular gets some unwanted publicity whenever something bad like a shooting happens because people misinterpret the lyrics, but 9/11 specifically hurt it (at least its radio airings)
 
The West Wing doesn't focus on terrorist plots, involving Al-Qaeda expys called the Bahji, and fictional countries like Qumar.
 
Probably a more successful career for the Dixie Chicks.

I also feel like some of the humor of the aughts, with its focus on irony and nonsense, came from a place of confusion and helplessness inspired by events. Same thing with the glut of political humor. Although we might see the That's My Bush movie ittl.
 
Probably a more successful career for the Dixie Chicks.
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And a (slightly) less successful career for Toby Keith (he had several hits in the country scene, but "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue", despite what you may think of that song, is what got him recognition in the mainstream). Also, the GI Joe movie may come out sooner (there were plans to make a joe movie once transformers got greenlighted, but 9/11 delayed that).
 
Every single TV show and movie continues to follow the Hollywood rule of City=Landmark and gives us a shot of the WTC whenever we have a plot taking place in New York. Seriously, you'll have a harder time finding programs that don't start off with the WTC pre-9/11.
 
Probably a more successful career for the Dixie Chicks.

I also feel like some of the humor of the aughts, with its focus on irony and nonsense, came from a place of confusion and helplessness inspired by events. Same thing with the glut of political humor. Although we might see the That's My Bush movie ittl.

I am curious if South Park or The Daily Show take the turns they do without 9/11. I expect Jon Stewart and Co. could pull it off but I'm not sure Parker and Stone rethink their program without 9/11

That's My Bush may get a movie but the show was going to end, simply because it was super expensive to produce, especially on Comedy Central's budget at the time.

I wonder if we see wider or less acceptance of excapist fantasy like LOTR and Harry Potter.
 
i think at that point Harry Potter was popular enough that it was going to be made into a film series anyway. there may be some butterflies to the writing and casting, but i don't think a lack of 9/11 is gonna change how its written and later made into a movie. LOTR i'm not as sure about; it was and still is the quintessential fantasy setting (DnD, WoW, and Warhammer are testament to its influence) so i'd say some kind of film adaptation is inevitable; it just might not be Peter Jackson making it so we'd get something more along the lines of Bakshi's adaptation in terms of critical reception, not to mention casting and writing butterflies (as much as Tolkien purists complain about it, i much prefer the dialogue of the Jackson films to the original books because it flows more realistically: Aragorn's reaction to Boromir's death is simplified into expressions and body language with some final words to him in the film, whereas in the book its a Shakespearean exposition)
 
That's My Bush may get a movie but the show was going to end, simply because it was super expensive to produce, especially on Comedy Central's budget at the time.

Without 9/11, it's hard to imagine George W. Bush as anything other than the Republican Jimmy Carter, which makes me think that the comedic (and political) careers built out of being in opposition to OTL's W are probably all butterflied away. So I can't see a "That's My Bush!" movie ITTL.

You're probably aware that That's My Bush! was initially conceived of as Everybody Loves Al, under the assumption that Al Gore was going to win the White House in 2000.
 
That's my Bush runs for eight seasons? :p

You're probably aware that That's My Bush! was initially conceived of as Everybody Loves Al, under the assumption that Al Gore was going to win the White House in 2000

Yeah. I've heard that. Supposedly one of the running gags was going to be that in addition to Al Gore. there's an Al Gorebot and nobody can tell them apart. :p
 
I'm not entirely convinced Bush would definitely be a one term president. If the economy is fine in 2004 and the administration is relatively scandal-free, voters might not be particularly inclined to replace him with a Democrat.

Maybe the Forrest Gump sequel gets made.
 
This probably affects Michael Moore's career to a major extent. Obviously no Fahrenheit 9/11, but if Bush is a one-term president and there is no invasion of Iraq, Moore doesn't get nearly as much media exposure for criticizing Bush as he did in OTL.
 
Vaugely pro-terrorist storylines (ala the Bajoran ones in ST: DS9) aren't taboo in popular entertainment.

Continuing on from the moods of the 90s, popular entertainment that is highly critical of the encroaching surveillance culture (ala Enemy of the State) could gain a lot more traction.

Both of those were cut short/stopped dead in their tracks with 9/11.

The rise of the internet and how the government reacts to that will probably get a slightly different take without 9/11 hanging in the background as well.

The Drug War(s) aren't shunted into background.

But if people think that Vaugley Middle Eastern Terrorists would fade away completely from pop-entertainment, I simply have to echo what LtNOWIS said about True Lies. But they would just be one of many rouge agents running around.

Might see a rise of films with Asian themed enemies (ala Tomorrow Never Dies), though I doubt they'd ever dominate popculture.

Basically whatever would be capturing the mood of "What is the Big Concern of the Day/Month/Year".
 
Vaugely pro-terrorist storylines (ala the Bajoran ones in ST: DS9) aren't taboo in popular entertainment.
well remember, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. ;):rolleyes: that's why American militia movements (in fiction at least) are given a pass while Islamic terrorists aren't (case in point: Red Dawn, V for Vendetta)
But if people think that Vaugley Middle Eastern Terrorists would fade away completely from pop-entertainment, I simply have to echo what LtNOWIS said about True Lies. But they would just be one of many rouge agents running around.
most definitely. what i had generally meant earlier is that ambiguous Muslims/Middle Easterns would be the antagonists less than IOTL because it isn't seen as okay to demonize them like IOTL

i wonder what the initial setting of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare would be? unlike almost all the other COD games, Modern Warfare is in an explicitly fictional setting (e.g., events which never/will never reasonably happen as described; Black Ops get a bit of a pass because it deals with secret history, even ignoring the 2025 portions in BO2), as opposed to the historical settings of all the other ones
 
well remember, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter. ;):rolleyes:

Ah, but I actually meant pro-terrorist. :p Or at least the ones that explore the very amiguity you cite.

See, for a while there was a decent amount of stories that had an allegorical take on the I/P conflict. Without the US being directly attacked in such a psyche-shattering way, those alligorical stories could be continued to be told.

To put it another way, if ST:TNG was made post-9/11 I doubt the infamous line about Northern Ireland would have made it in quite the same way it had in OTL.
 
Might see a rise of films with Asian themed enemies (ala Tomorrow Never Dies), though I doubt they'd ever dominate popculture.
That might not last long though. Like in OTL, you would probably see filmmakers avoiding Chinese villains once people start realizing China is a lucrative market for American films (see Red Dawn).
 
I am curious if South Park or The Daily Show take the turns they do without 9/11. I expect Jon Stewart and Co. could pull it off but I'm not sure Parker and Stone rethink their program without 9/11
I have no idea but The Daily Show, but I'm quite a student of South Park's evolution and I'd say the 9/11 ep was "ahead of it's time" as far as the show goes, with a lot of the satire remaining softer for a year or two afterwards, so I don't think we'd see much change during Seasons 5-7, besides obviously eliminating "Osama bin Laden Has Farty Pants" and "A Ladder to Heaven". It's later down the line that the butterflies become apparent, especially during Seasons 10 and 11, which built quite a few storylines on national security and Islam.

9/11 really did change everything, it seems.
 
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