October 6, 2004
NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW WHAT A FABULOUS DANCER MOHAMMED ATTA WAS... (via Kevin Whited):
TERROR TV SHOW TICKING (SUSAN KARLIN, October 5, 2004, NY Post)
Here comes Terror TV.Cable channel Showtime is quietly at work on a new series about the personal lives of an Islamic terrorist cell in the United States, The Post has learned.
The series — to be called "The Cell" — will be told from the view points of a group of Euro pean and American con verts to Islam who are plotting terror attacks here.
Showtime says it realizes it is walking into a potential minefield by portraying terrorists sympathetically without pulling punches about their violent aims.
HBO's "The Sopranos" and "The Wire" have found success doing that with mobsters and drug dealers.
"We're trying to look into the minds of these [terrorists] and the issues driving them, beyond a black-and-white portrayal," says Showtime entertainment president Robert Greenblatt, who will decide next month whether to commit to a series.
If you're going to portray a terrorist sympathetically why not be really daring and use someone like Paul Hill, whose cause is actually comprehensible to people? Posted by Orrin Judd at October 6, 2004 4:02 PM
The screen writers and directors are as ernest as the crazy nazi and Regis DeBris in the producers. We'll see if others get the joke.
Posted by: luciferous at October 6, 2004 4:33 PMUntil I clicked the link I thought this was supposed to be a reality show like Faye Dunaway had in "Network." I guess that'll have to wait until fall of 2005.
Posted by: Guy T. at October 6, 2004 5:20 PMThis is the same culture where people get outraged over screenings of D.W. Griffiths 'Birth of a Nation'?
This is a contemptible idea. I will make damn certain that I will not be paying one dime to Showtime if they do it.
Posted by: Andrew X at October 6, 2004 5:53 PMRemember when Showtime just showed soft core European sex comedies? I sure do, because I was 13 years old at the time. These days, they're been trying to recast themselves as the movie channel for hip, urbane metrosexual types. So by pandering to terrorists Showtime is just doing what their key demographic wants anyway. I'd rather watch Tony Soprano whack somebody any day of the week.
Posted by: Governor Breck at October 6, 2004 6:53 PMSince Showtime is a Viacom property, I eagerly await the puff piece about the show on "60 Minutes II" a few months from now.
Posted by: John at October 6, 2004 8:46 PMDidn't TNT just have a show like this; some monthes ago. (granted it covered both sides;
the Grid)
"The Grid" was actually a good show - it showed both sides, but also had pretty clear moral fault lines. The terrorist protagonists were clearly non-religious and seriously evil; the government types were too stylish and urbane, but otherwise OK; and there was even (wink, wink) in-fighting and back-stabbing from the CIA elder.
But that was an entertainment program. I wouldn't know how to characterize a reality terror cell show. Modern art? Pseudo-psychiatry? A shot in the dark for higher ratings?
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