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[morsla]

There's a cliched scene that appears in many old Westerns: Indians appear on the ridgeline, revealing vast numbers and complete outflanking of the protagonists in about as much time as it takes to say "Oh, shit." With a few seconds of footage, the impact of the situation is driven home.

Since 9/11 there seems to be a new version of the Injuns coming over the hill. It appears in American films and television dealing with terrorism, generally after the first shots have been fired.

A group of characters are meeting to discuss the situation: in a police station; at a public meeting; in a government office. In the background, a phone starts ringing. Then another, and another, until every cellphone and beeper is going at once, with people scrambling to answer them. The camera focuses on the reactions of the characters: blood draining from their faces as realisation dawns that the situation just got a lot worse.

I've noticed it a few times now. I wonder how many of these scriptwriters experienced something similar in 2001, and how many are just using it as a standard narrative device. I'd love to know who used it first, and whether it had been used before "that" morning in September.

Comments

[sols-light.livejournal.com]

I think natural disasters could always have elicited this, but the scale on which it can be man-made is now far greater. Multiply this for the Media Fear Factor generated by any given locale, of course.