One of the unfortunate things about American society is our tendency to blame first and ask questions later. We'd rather blame unfortunate things on easy, convenient targets than look at the real situation and see what might really be at fault. This can make for some amusing spectacles in the media, but it can also endanger our economic freedoms and personal liberties if no one shows up the blame for the foolishness that it often is.

With that in mind, I was wondering when some opportunist would use September 11th to bring out the culturewar drums again. There were some early stirrings, of course, but no real leader emerged. I figured the first complaint I'd hear from a genuine talking head would come from some tired, old rightwing ninny like William Bennett or the Rev. Donald Wildmon. Maybe even Tipper Gore: she's been too good for too long, you know...

But no. Instead of them, we got Robert Altman - the director of the movie "M*A*S*H." He also did "Nashville" and "Dr. T & the Women," in case you've never seen "M*A*S*H." In a recent "Showbuzz" in its Entertainment section, CNN.com ran a story in which Altman - who's finishing up his latest film - criticized the entertainment industry. He said that Hollywood served as a source of inspiration for the terrorists.

"The movies set the pattern, and (the terrorists) have copied the movies," he whined: "Nobody would have thought to commit an atrocity like that unless they'd seen it in a movie."

Mmm-hmmm...

Does anyone know of a movie in which a hijacked passenger plane was flown into a skyscraper? I can't think of one. Tom Clancy envisioned a similar scenario in one of his novels, but, just between you and me, I don't think Al-Queda are Clancy fans.

Now, at worst, this line from Altman is pure, self-serving drivel. In the article, he goes on to say that "Maybe there's a chance to get back to ... grown-up films ... Anything that uses humor and dramatic values to deal with human emotions and gets down to what people are to people." And it just so happens that he's putting the final touches on a class-war satire/murder mystery film at the time? Am I the only one who finds that a little... convenient?

But at best - and I'd like to think this is what's really going on, here - Altman's statements are the same old silliness we get from the Lame Blame Game. I can just see the members of Al-Queda instructing their new operatives thusly: "Today, we'll be covering how to wire things for explosion, and providing an object lesson on cell cohesion, by watching 'Die Hard.' Yes... I know this is Satanic, Western filth, but it's a very useful program, and Bruce Willis is a funny man, so please pay attention."

The Lame Blame Game goes on all the time in America, with all sorts of targets. Take away "action movies" and "September 11th" and replace them with "pornography" and "rape." Or maybe "violent movies" and "school violence." Or how about "music" and "juvenile delinquency?"

Skilled political hacks can get a lot of mileage out of the Lame Blame Game, but, in the end, it's still pretty lame. Those who extol the virtues of the "monkey-see, monkey do" argument can't seem to realize that, were it true, they'd be out shooting up liquor stores along with their kids. Likewise, those who clamor for a return to some bygone age when movies were more "wholesome" and life was better are either forgetting how messed-up our past could be, or else are living in la-la land.

I'll agree that Hollywood does cater to the most common denominator. Action, violence, sex and general escapism appeal to audiences because their own lives are dull and boring. We want to see people living large and doing things that we, ourselves, either cannot or should not do, and we're willing to shell out big money for it, too.

Hollywood execs know this, and they'd have to be fools not to cater to that need. But so long as the vast majority of the audience can separate the escapism on the screen from the responsibilities and iron walls of their daily life, this is a harmless transaction. Those who say otherwise seem to be forgetting that while America's popular culture is getting "more violent," America's crime rates are going down.

But I suppose that's a point that will miss most of the Lame Blame Game's current contestants.

So - for the meantime - it really comes down to this: do you really think Osama Bin Laden grew up watching shoot-'em-ups? Do you really suppose he came up with the ideas he's developed by watching disaster and war films? And so you really think that, had such films not been made, there'd still be two certain towers standing proudly against the New York sky?

If you do, then, quite frankly - that's your problem. I'm going to stick to the belief that's hopefully shared by most clear-thinking people: the belief that that it takes a special kind of inspiration to produce the sort of mayhem that Al-Queda have foisted upon us, and it has nothing to do with what's been playing at the movies, but everything to do with what's been going on in the mind of a group of fanatics.

And if no "grown-up" movie could have prevented September 11th, it's a safe bet no action movie could have sparked it, either.