Letters to the Editor
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all you need to know about SZ
She trashes Fahrenheit 9/11 and gets moist over this populist piece of feelgood exploitation.
WTF?
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Uncomfortable Truths
I think that most people get uncomfortable with the idea that people can kill and murder and commit the most monstrous atrocities in the name of an ideology. As Ms Zacharek points out - the film does not shy away from addressing this point that these people were motivated completely by their religion. The Khafirs (non-believers) that they killed had no right to live, so the hijackers committed no sin. They were acting perfectly logically from their world view point.
The uncomfortable truth for a lot of people is the realization that no amount of reasoning, discussion or persuasion is going to change this viewpoint. No protest, no "sensitivity training", no good intentions will make a difference in their behavior. And because they are now moving about in our world, we cannot ignore them any more.
The passengers on Flight 93 took action to take the plane back after they realized this point. When they realized what the hijackers were intending - suicide bombs- the rules (and the world) changed. If the movie says nothing else - it shows that resistance in the face of this "truth" is not futile.
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The terrorists sucked the life out of us
"What's the value of artistry that sucks the life out of you?"
Let us remember that it's the terrorists, not the filmmaker, who have sucked the life out of us.
The events of 9/11 need to be presented in all their horrific detail. They are part of our history now. The popular culture needs to process these events, and good film making is an excellent way to do that. I will see this film, and I am also hoping a similar film gets made about the attack on the towers and the Pentagon.
People should not be asking whether films like this should be made, or whether it's "too soon." No one is obligated to buy a ticket. The only legitimate question is "Do I want to see it?"
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Kool-Aid
In September of 2001, no cell phones would work at 30,000 feet so most of the calls that were made were NOT made by the passengers of Flight 93.
The hijackers flew low to the ground, well below a typical cruising altitude of 30,000 feet. If you're going to trumpet extreme conspiracy theories, it helps to have at least the most basic grasp of the subject at hand.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/defense/1227842.html
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The events of 9/11 need to be presented in all their horrific detail. -Black Sun
That would be a documentary, you stupid fuck, not a glossy Hollywood "Let's roll!" movie "based on a true story."
Are you that dumb naturally or did your momma drop you on your head as she left the liquor store?
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United 93
All of the family members of all of the victims of United flight 93 gave their permission for this movie to be made. Everyone who has said that they flat out refuse to go see this movie should think about that for a while.
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um.... WW2??????
there have been countless films about the holocaust, some made very recently... why should 9/11 be any different? "schindler's list" made me sick to my stomach, but nevertheless it was a great work of art.
i think any statements to the effect "it's too soon" or "this is exploitative" are naive knee-jerk reactions.
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bubbles
Are some of you like 13 or something? You've honestly been unaware until this movie came about that people profit off tragedy? Please. People have been making a buck off 9/11 since it happened. Have you forgotten the surge in patriotic trinkets and ephemera the weeks after 9/11? Hell, I even remember seeing a commercial for patriotic lawn fertilizer (I only wish I was making this up). I'm reminded of the commodities trader in the film The Corporation who said that the first thing other traders thought on 9/11 was: Well, how much is gold up?
Why is making a buck off 9/11 horrible but making one off any of the other countless tragedies across the globe hunky spunky? Were any of you pious finger-waggers protesting Schindler's List? And as a few other posters here have already pointed out, the people who were directly affected by this event gave the filmmakers their blessing. So now what?
Wake up, this is capitalism, pure and simple. Ultimately, this movie was made because it's going to make a gaggle of studio execs a shitload of money.
Also, how many movies has Zacharek watched? *This* movie is the most excruciating cinematic experience she's ever had? Granted, I haven't seen the movie (yet?), but I seriously doubt it'd be the toughest movie I'll ever watch.
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Greater truth? We can't handle a greater truth.
Ms. Zacharek said, "The picture is "about" a single momentous, horrific event, and its intensity is undeniable. But while "United 93" offers a horrifyingly realistic evocation of pain and fear, it doesn't open itself out to any greater, more expansive truth. And it offers us no hope of transcendence."
The problem is that any more "expansive truth" would bring in material that would allow the story to be dismissed, primarily politics. Imagine the soundtrack with "God Bless the USA" or Charlie Daniels on it. The movie would be seen as a propaganda piece for the Bush Administration, the war in Iraq/Iran/Wherever, and it would have cheapened the experience.
Or it could have been a piece sympathetic to...no, not the hijackers, but to the idea that this whole incident came about because of America's manipulations of the Mideast. But come to think of it, the right wing would see it as sympathetic to the hijackers, and we'd hear the right-wing radio hosts ask why the filmmakers hate America.
The only real truth to this incident is that it is a tragedy, and that a basic description of the events, without interpretation, is the only sensible way to cover the event. If you want to cover it at all.
I probably won't see the film. All it can offer me is one more thing to be depressed by. But if I can steel myself to eventually see it, I think I'll be glad that it didn't become a propaganda piece.
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Nothing new
Movies made about ongoing events, made for propoganda, profit and/or because someone thought it made a good story are nothing new.
On TMC, during their 31 days of Oscar, I saw a movie called "So Proudly We Hail". The movie takes place in the Philippines during WWII. It tells the story of some military nurses who managed to leave before the American forces in the Philippines surrendered to the Japanese. Most of the nurses did not get away and ended up being captured by the Japanese. The movie was made in 1943. From what I've read, at the time the movie was made it was not known what had happened to the nurses who were left behind. Their families didn't know if they were alive or dead.
I'm sure that was no more or less upsetting than "Flight 93". This sort of thing has been going on for a long time. I'm not sure why the events of 9/11 are seen as so much more traumatic. Maybe having TV and being surrounded by media has changed our impression of things.