The post-September 11 world.

Rating: 7/10 (18 January 2006)

Some people say that the country became more violent after Kennedy got assassinated; following that argument, one might say that we got even more violent still after September 11. Certainly, Kennedy's assassination destroyed the image of a squeaky-clean, wholesome America, and September 11 changed the way that we felt that we could do everything.
Whether or not we became more violent after 9/11, "Training Day" offers some insight into that. Released right after September 11 (it's release even got delayed because of the latter), the movie stars Denzel Washington as corrupt cop Alonzo Harris, teaming up with rookie Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke). As this is a movie about the gritty world of crime, I shouldn't have to identify that it's pretty violent. By the time that the movie had gotten released, movies had been showing violence for over thirty years. But if in fact we did become more violent, then the movie might have been a look at the future. Movies about corrupt cops are nothing new, but they did an OK job with this one.
As for other aspects, Denzel Washington won an Oscar for his role, making him the first African-American to win Best Actor (Sidney Poitier is actually Bahamian). Some may ask whether or not it he would have won had 9/11 not happened, but not me. I say that he deserved the Oscar.