HOLLYWOOD - Arnold Schwarzenegger's new film Collateral Damage has had more than its share of media hype, and not all of it positive.The film, to be released in theaters Friday, Feb. 8, has all the good-guy, bad-guy scenarios you'd imagine from a Schwarzenegger film, but it also deals with terrorists and firefighters: a combination that rings a little too familiar to many people since the events of Sept. 11.
Even New York's beloved former mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, is being frowned upon by fire and police union leaders for attending a Wednesday screening of the film, the Associated Press reports.
"It saddens us any time a tragedy is used to promote anything like a movie," said Peter Gorman, president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, to the AP.
Giuliani spokeswoman Sunny Mindel, however, did not seem apologetic for the former mayor's connection to the film or with its star. She said Giuliani would "publicly acknowledge and thank Arnold Schwarzenegger for his unwavering support in the aftermath of Sept. 11." Giuliani has yet to make a public statement since seeing the film.
Schwarzenegger reportedly donated $1 million to the Twin Towers Fund and was instrumental in raising an additional $4 million.
Earlier this week, Franciscan priest Brian Jordan, who helps workers at Ground Zero, called Collateral Damage "discriminatory against Columbians," claiming it lumped the country's culture into a collective negative category.