# ''Spiderman'' to have WTC scenes removed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 14, 2001, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiderman-to-have-wtc-scenes-removed/81517 "2001-09-14T02:25:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiderman-to-have-wtc-scenes-removed/81517/1 "2001-09-14T02:25:20Z")
Someone told me this today. Is it confirmed? He also heard that the posters that show a fuzzy reflection of the WTC are being recalled. It’s not due to be released 'til next year, though. Whacha think (if true)? Knee-jerk or proper? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiderman-to-have-wtc-scenes-removed/81517/2 "2001-09-14T02:32:15Z")
True. Right to be done. Because they feature the buildings centrally in the promotions, it’s fair enough that they should make a change. The yanking of said items is probably an automatic response before they can think it through and make a decision. ---
**Author:** ![ladybug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@ladybug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladybug)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiderman-to-have-wtc-scenes-removed/81517/3 "2001-09-14T02:32:45Z")
From what I’ve read, the scene in question was made for the trailer only and does not appear in the movie itself. The trailer for “Spider-Man” shows a scene in which a helicopter carrying two fleeing robbers gets caught in a giant spiderweb strung between the two towers of the World Trade Center. According to the AP, this trailer has been pulled from theaters and is no longer available online. ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiderman-to-have-wtc-scenes-removed/81517/4 "2001-09-14T02:34:21Z")
Well, [it’s confirmed](http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=10170) that the WTC will be digitally removed from the movie. It’s understandable that they would do this. All I know if they left it in, I wouldn’t be able to think of anything else except horror, death, and destruction every time it appeared on the screen. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiderman-to-have-wtc-scenes-removed/81517/5 "2001-09-14T02:51:21Z")
I heard on the radio that a couple of movies are being scrapped entirely. Supposedly, Arnold Schwartzenegger’s next movie was going to show a plane crashing into a skyscraper. That got cancelled really quickly. Also, according to the local radio DJ’s, there are a couple of CD’s that have come out that are almost prophetic. First, remember that album cover art is planned months in advance, so there’s no possible way that these people could be reacting to the World Trade Center bombing. One CD cover supposedly featured a skyline of New York…with the World Trade Center Towers burning! This CD was apparently scheduled to be released last Tuesday --the day of the bombing-- and some people have copies of it. The CD was supposedly recalled immediately, and they’re going to put in a new cover with just the list of songs or some other hastily-arranged substitute image. The other CD was a rap album that has not been released yet. The planned cover art was supposed to show the rapper standing in front of the WTC holding a detonator. Needless to say, they’re going to come up with a new picture. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiderman-to-have-wtc-scenes-removed/81517/6 "2001-09-14T03:00:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Atreyu \* > \*\*Well, [it’s confirmed](http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=10170) that the WTC will be digitally removed from the movie. > > It’s understandable that they would do this. All I know if they left it in, I wouldn’t be able to think of anything else except horror, death, and destruction every time it appeared on the screen. \*\* True. But I hope they include it on the DVD, as a memorial. I agree that shots of the WTC in the film would make it unwatchable for many. But I saw the trailer, and it is a fitting tribute. It should be preserved in a format where people don’t have to watch it if they can’t, but those who want to see the WTC honored, and displayed in a truly glorious manner, should be allowed that. ---
**Author:** ![Atreyu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiderman-to-have-wtc-scenes-removed/81517/7 "2001-09-14T03:06:36Z")
> [@](#): > > But I saw the trailer, and it is a fitting tribute I agree. I hope they put it on the DVD. Especially since the WTC in the trailer was used as a means to catch bad guys. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiderman-to-have-wtc-scenes-removed/81517/8 "2001-09-14T03:22:19Z")
I don’t know what I think about this. I mean, I totally understand the emotion that goes with ideas and images of the WTC, but isn’t _deliberatly_ removing it from movies or images kind of reenforcing the fact that it’s gone? I understand changing the cover art of a burning WTC on a music album, or delaying/cancelling terrorism movies - but taking it OUT of a movie that takes place in NYC??? It just makes it so…obvious, and makes it’s absence harder, IMHO. They were part of the skyline for so long - is it really appropriate to act like they were never there? Will they change the scenes from “Sleepless in Seattle” if they ever release a new edition? It just seems to me like trying to take the Nazis out of “schindler’s list”.[sub]please don’t make this a Nazi discussion - it’s just an exaggeration to make my point![/sub]. I think I’d be more saddened to see buildings “erased”, than to remember them as they were.Even only in a trailer. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiderman-to-have-wtc-scenes-removed/81517/9 "2001-09-14T03:34:24Z")
mnemosyne, I think you’re overreacting. Spiderman hasn’t come out yet. When it does come out, the WTC will have been gone for over a year (it’s coming out in December, isn’t it?). I think it would just be ODD for a movie to feature the towers at such a time. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiderman-to-have-wtc-scenes-removed/81517/10 "2001-09-14T03:47:25Z")
If it’s historically correct then they should show them. When they recreat old NY nobody complains. If a person in your family dies do you remove their pictures from the photo album. Arnold’s next movie was called Collateral Damage. He played a fireman who’s wife and kid die in a terrorits bomb attack. My guess is that Arnold then goes and kicks some ass. Oh well… ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiderman-to-have-wtc-scenes-removed/81517/11 "2001-09-14T23:31:51Z")
**Munch** - But the movie was filmed WITH the towers. I don’t see why they should deliberately be removed, that’s all. It just seems like its trying to force the point of the WTC now being gone. I mean, certain movies (non-historical ones) take place in “1999” and then got delayed and come out in 2000 (for example). They don’t change the date there. People know when they see a movie that the filming took place long before the movie was released, and that some things have changed since. I know this is a huge change, but…I don’t know, it just seems excessive to me. But as I said, it’s just MHO. ---
**Author:** ![kellibelli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e480ec/32.png) [@kellibelli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellibelli)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiderman-to-have-wtc-scenes-removed/81517/12 "2001-09-14T23:35:22Z")
OR they could just show the movie with a big red censored over the towers. They didnt stop showing buildings exploding after Okla city… I really think this kind of thing lets the bad guys win, but thats just my canadian opinion. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiderman-to-have-wtc-scenes-removed/81517/13 "2001-09-15T00:32:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mnemosyne \* > **Munch** - But the movie was filmed WITH the towers. I don’t see why they should deliberately be removed, that’s all. Actually, the movie wasn’t filmed with the towers. The trailer was. The scene with the WTC towers was filmed specifically for the trailer and was never meant to appear in the actual film. So they’re pulling the trailer, which I think is nice, because it was due to start airing in theaters very soon, and people’s emotions are still raw. The movie itself will not have to be edited, I don’t believe. ---
**Author:** ![Chickenhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Chickenhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chickenhead)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiderman-to-have-wtc-scenes-removed/81517/14 "2001-09-15T05:42:11Z")
I fail to see how it would be a “tribute.” ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiderman-to-have-wtc-scenes-removed/81517/15 "2001-09-15T05:50:13Z")
I may be oversimplifying but it’s sort of like removing someone’s pictures from a photo album when they die. No? ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiderman-to-have-wtc-scenes-removed/81517/16 "2001-09-15T06:52:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chickenhead \* > \*\*I fail to see how it would be a “tribute.” \*\* The towers were beautifully photographed, and central to an awesome shot. Plus, the concept of the towers being utilized to catch villains has become stunningly poetic. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spiderman-to-have-wtc-scenes-removed/81517/17 "2001-09-15T07:12:13Z")
I hate to be the blunt one, but: we must face facts. It is no longer realistic to depict the World Trade Center towers as a part of New York. Leaving them in movies that take place in the present or future is, from this moment on, anachronistic. It may be a choice not of “let’s not hurt feelings” but “let’s not show something that no longer exists”.