With just a few weeks left in the year, the media is scrambling to recap 365 days of a country divided between conflict and peace, both domestically and abroad. Unfortunately, when historians look back on entertainment in 2003, it will be difficult to tell a war was even happening at the time.

Bombs fell. Lives were lost. The enemy was found. And still, the American public is more concerned with Paris and Nicole covered in cow crap than our own soldiers’ bodies riddled with shrapnel from a suicide bombing.

Music, movies and television didn’t — and shouldn’t — mirror the feelings of tension and uncertainty that filled every aspect of our lives. They are intended to be a release from real life. But that doesn’t mean those issues should be completely ignored. Or more importantly, when these issues are explored by our beloved entertainment idols, they should be allowed to have their voices heard.

The entertainment industry did little to make a memorable impact on the war and its effects. There was little visible opposition from the entertainment world, despite public opinion that hovered and often dipped below half of the population.

Not surprisingly, the few moments of independent thought that emerged from a year of knee-jerk patriotism were almost unanimously silenced.

The Academy Awards ceremony itself was a microcosm of all that is wrong with present-day America. The red carpet ceremony was almost halted, but played out as usual at the last minute — a sign of the people’s need for normalcy in the form of entertainment.

But once the performers entered the Kodak Theatre, it was back to the same “keep it quiet, keep it safe” rhetoric that has permeated American thought since Sept. 11.

Michael Moore was cut short during his Academy Award acceptance speech, despite the fact that the award was for “Bowling for Columbine,” a film based heavily on left-wing thought. What did the Oscar producers expect from the man who made “Roger and Me” — a shout-out to his agent?

Even Sheryl Crow was nearly dismissed from the show by refusing to cover her “no war” guitar strap. When did music become an art form that didn’t allow for political and artistic expression?

Similarly, Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines nearly ended her career with one sentence, saying she was embarrassed to be from the same state as the President. Apparently, being a liberal country music singer is a sentence worthy of death, considering the death threats she received in response. What’s surprising is the backlash came from a group that believes in liberty and freedom.

So long as that freedom doesn’t interfere with the messages being fed from the White House, of course.