Tragedies always cause the people they affect to analyze themselves in terms of their own lifestyles and goals. Many of us looked at the Oklahoma City bombing six years ago and could only imagine how awful it was for those that were directly affected by it. That is not to say that we as a nation were not appalled by the actions of a few heartless individuals, but did we really feel at that time that it was an attack on America? Probably nothing like we all feel now.

The events of Sept. 11 presented us with a situation where no adjectives could accurately describe exactly how horrible and despicable the images that we were seeing really were. The effects will be felt for years to come by everyone in a multitude of different ways. Obviously for those who lost loved ones in the attack there will be a profound sadness. Others of us will feel this sadness, maybe to a lesser extent, and we will share the feelings of grief, loss of innocence, anger and a desire for justice similar to what they are feeling. One emotion that everyone in America is now sharing is a feeling of patriotism … a feeling of coming together to help shoulder the pain of the nation.

Now, three weeks later, as we as individuals are examining our own lives and rethinking what we now consider to be our priorities, the country is also doing the same thing. This includes our entertainment industry. What exactly do they do now? Disk jockeys must now weigh whether saying a particular joke or reference will be in good taste. They also grapple with the decision to play certain songs that have been placed on a list of possibly inappropriate due to messages about wartime, New York

or airplanes.

Hollywood is talking of postponing certain movies or rewriting certain scenes because the content no longer reflects the reality of what has happened. Even the NFL must no longer use certain terms to explain the plays occurring on the field because of their references to war.

While this is all very sensible and notable, is it not also sad? Shouldn’t this have already been happening? Have we taken the pencil of freedom and erased respect and honor from so many avenues in our lives?

Prior to Sept. 11, most people really didn’t raise too much of a fuss about what our music and film industries were doing in the name of entertainment. After all, this is America and we have freedom of speech. We can say what we want and if it offends people, so what? We promote violence, drugs and sex like nothing else on the planet. Now that these actions have become reality, the industry feels the need to back off a bit.

How cool will it be now for Marilyn Manson to burn the American flag? How neat will it be for Eminem to glorify beating and killing his wife? Or Limp Bizkit to drone on about being angry, hostile and feeling the need to smash and break everything as they tell the world to screw off? What about all of the other musicians who sing of rape, slashing throats or killing cops? All of the television shows and movies that glorify violence, hatred and anger? Doesn’t it seem to be really cool at a time like this? Unfortunately, it never should have … but the industry didn’t feel that way.

The term hero has been used a lot lately. A hero is a person who is admired for great courage special achievements or noble character. Before Sept. 11, our heroes were our athletes, movie stars and musicians. Now, however, they are those brave souls who thought only of the people they were trying to save. In the wake of the attack many sports figures and entertainment people have given large amounts of money to the relief funds and this is commendable.

One athlete gave a week’s pay of $38,000 to the cause. Unfortunately, that is approximately the yearly salary for most police officers and firefighters. And what is truly amazing about this is that if this attack had happened in any other city in America those firefighters, police officers and EMT workers who worked there would have responded in exactly the same way as the men and women in New York have done without hesitation.

We can all hope that this new kind of hero will be the one that our children want to emulate. Should we also hope that they will attempt to be a more positive model for the people in America? One can only hope.

Dan Frazell is a community relations and D.A.R.E. officer with the Bangor Police Department.