Channel-surfing looking for a weather report a few minutes ago, I happened upon USA Network’s broadcast of The Siege, a film in which martial law is declared in New York City because of Islamic terrorist attacks. Of course now I’m hooked — the terrorists have just bombed to rubble One Federal Plaza, and the recovery scene looks exactly like the remains of the World Trade Center. When the movie came out, Arab-American groups went berserk, saying the film was stirring up racism by imagining a scenario in which Muslim villains destroyed New York landmarks. Now that it’s happened, in an event far worse than anything depicted in this movie, and it may happen again, I wonder what they would say if the film were re-released. Probably the same thing — except now that we have seen that Islamic extremists are in fact exactly what this film portrayed them to be, there’s little chance politically correct Hollywood will ever make them villains again.

One eerie thing: the Twin Towers are still there, in the film. Absolutely chilling to see.

Bruce Willis, playing a general in this film, stands near the Brooklyn Bridge (with the Twin Towers in the background!) saying that the military has sealed off Brooklyn and is “squeezing” the borough looking for the Arab terrorists. I remember thinking when I first saw that four years ago that that was laying it on pretty thick. It seems a lot more realistic sitting here in Brooklyn this cold afternoon in February, 2003.

Commercial’s over. Back to the film.