Lawrence.com

Film raises questions about war

London � British director Ridley Scott wants his new film about U.S. intervention in Somalia, "Black Hawk Down," to encourage public debate about Afghanistan.

As the film opened in British theaters Friday, Scott said the release date had been moved forward after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks because studio bosses believed it would resonate with both American and British audiences. The movie is now in wide release in the United States.

"The film fundamentally discusses two things about intervention. First, should we intervene, and secondly, when should we do that? But it also raises the question about paying attention to what else is going on in the world," Scott said.

"Black Hawk Down," based on Mark Bowden's book of the same name, tells the story of an October 1993 military mission to Mogadishu to capture two top lieutenants of warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid.

The firefight left 18 American soldiers dead and more than 70 wounded.

Airport security takes toll on film

Salt Lake City � Actress Parker Posey and Tom Beller, a writer, had only one gripe with the new security system in the Salt Lake International Airport.

Riffling through a bag of luggage, they groaned they hadn't known that film was supposed to be removed from any bag going through computer tomography X-ray machines, which give a detailed analysis of every part of a bag.

"We just lost our whole roll of Big Sur," Posey said with agitation. "They were beautiful pictures. We had two disposable cameras and another roll."

Beller nodded his head in agreement, then said hurriedly, "But of course we're still glad they're screening."

They were heading home to New York on Wednesday after leaving the Sundance Film Festival. The new security system was being tested to work out the bugs before Friday's congressionally imposed deadline for screening all checked baggage for explosives.

Salt Lake airport personnel have been working hard to have security measures running smoothly before the 2002 Winter Olympics begin in three weeks.

Racial equality still just a dream

Knoxville, Tenn. � Martin Luther King III said the nation should observe the holiday honoring his father, but it's too soon to celebrate it.

Thirty-three years after his father's assassination in Memphis, Martin Luther King Jr.'s goal of eliminating racism, poverty and violence remains a dream, his son said.

"In our minds, a celebration is when we kind of kick back, eat barbecue, chill and not really do anything. That is what a holiday is," he told a King holiday forum sponsored by the Tennessee Valley Authority Wednesday.

"But we have not reached the point in my personal judgment of having a holiday or a celebration."

The holiday will be observed on Monday. King, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, would have been 73 this past Tuesday.