Black Hawk Down Anthropology

If only time travel were possible. That way we could go back to 1993 and hopefully correct the mistakes involved in the tragedy-laden raid in Somalia. The media could be prevented from turning this incident into a tentpole for the government to get squeamish about sending our boys in to kick a little ass. Someone could even send The Terminator back to kill Michael Bay, Final Countdown-style, thus preventing the cinematic catastrophe that was Pearl Harbor from ever materializing. All good reasons to get Doc Brown moving on a new DeLorean. However I'd like to hitch a ride on the original timeline of this film, to gauge both the critical reaction and its success, because while Black Hawk Down is certainly, at times, an entertaining action picture, those touting it as an Oscar-worthy contender seemed more influenced by its timing than its quality.
To even lump Black Hawk into a category of action/adventure, may certainly appear insulting to those aware and close to the true story on which it is based. The year is 1993 and warlords are seizing food and supplies from the citizens of Somalia (a situation poetically explained once by the late Phil Hartman, stealing bites from McDonalds customers as Bill Clinton.) Aware of the locations of two key figures in the army of Mohamed Farrah Aidid, American forces were sent in to capture them as part of
In October, after some successful test screenings and our impending charge against Osama Bin Laden, it was moved up to January and subsequently slated for some NY & LA screenings to qualify for Oscars. (Coincidentally enough, Bin Laden was actually responsible for training the enemy forces portrayed in the film.) Perhaps so rushed was the release, that the print I saw three weeks before its Dec. 28 coast premieres, didn't have a finished music track, instead using selections from John Williams and Hans Zimmer's theme from The Thin Red