tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post114458182484378447..comments2023-10-31T11:37:50.028-04:00Comments on on life & other inconveniences: Exploitation?Sandra Ruttanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06109584805469336742noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1144642907514287442006-04-10T00:21:00.000-04:002006-04-10T00:21:00.000-04:00I, too am a New Yorker, but Upstate (and Lisa your...I, too am a New Yorker, but Upstate (and Lisa your right, don't let your son drink tap water in the City. Your reservoir is up here by me...and the momo's guarding it are inept!)<BR/><BR/>Back to the point. They haven't shown anything about the movie on our channels and I'm pretty sure the movie won't come here. The wounds are still too open and real!Bonnie S. Calhounhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11769607640246518804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1144642804196836552006-04-10T00:20:00.000-04:002006-04-10T00:20:00.000-04:00In answer to your question, no, we don't really di...In answer to your question, no, we don't really discuss 9/11 directly, though it's come up unexpectedly at times. For example, he no longer wanted to go to Coney Island amusement park, because you have to take the bridge to Brooklyn and can see where the buildings used to be, and that made him sad. <BR/><BR/>We DO talk about how glad we are to be living in Canada now (for reasons totally unrelated to geopolitics). And these days I write about visual arts instead of smallpox epidemics. A quiet life is a blessing.Lisa Hunterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16273391238820872246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1144639725868239542006-04-09T23:28:00.000-04:002006-04-09T23:28:00.000-04:00On thinking about it, I would have to say I'd feel...On thinking about it, I would have to say I'd feel like the flight 93 movie and its depiction of 9/11 as I did about Mel Gibson's Passion of Christ. I don't want to see it. There's too much blood and gore involved, and I'm still trying to clear my mind of all the horrors I have for nightmares. <BR/><BR/>To have sat through the Crucifiction - which was widely panned for too much blood - would be as hard as sitting through the 9/11 disaster. <BR/><BR/>And I think it trivializes the whole thing. Kids see these films and it removes the emotional impact. Starts the event on the road to "just a movie, no biggie." And so many movies are so sensational it trivializes trauma, pain, death, terrorism, etc. I can't even go to the movies anymore. Too much blood and gore. No, I said that already.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for a great post. I enjoyed it.For The Treeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14843514742081569820noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1144638132893225662006-04-09T23:02:00.000-04:002006-04-09T23:02:00.000-04:00My word, with your career it must have been doubly...My word, with your career it must have been doubly horrid. It's always worse for people who are incredibly aware of all the potential dangers, I think.<BR/><BR/>What did it for me was seeing the ad. The flashing of, "From the director of..." I can't remember what the one movie was, the other listed was The Bourne Supremacy. It struck me as ego-centric as any other ad, and the musical emotional manipulation factor.<BR/><BR/>Now, I speak only for me. I don't like that on regular tv. I watch The Wire and if you ever listen to their commentaries you know the philosophy against using music to manipulate emotions. The story does the job on its own, and very effectively. <BR/><BR/>I do appreciate movies like Schindler's List. I never lost anybody in the war, but I'm as moved over WW2 as anything and I've been to Dachau and to Bergen Belsen. One of my favourite tv movies was Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story. One of my favourite books as a child: Twenty and Ten, which my husband just tracked down for me.<BR/><BR/>Really, truly, yeah, we all knew it would happen sooner or later. But I, for one, wish it was later. <BR/><BR/>And in truth, people don't have to imagine anyone standing up and being brave. The firefighters (my husband is a firefighter, my best friend's husband is a firefighter as well) the police officers, not to mention the people that really did bring this plane down.<BR/><BR/>But looking ahead to summer, I'm a bit disturbed by the thought of remembering 9/11 being tainted by images of a heroic Nicholas Cage flashing through my brain. I'd rather remember the real, though that's truly just me.<BR/><BR/>Out of curiosity, if you feel like answering, have you discussed this with your son now that he's older? I don't envy parents who had to decide how to address this with their children, especially those that live in NYC.Sandra Ruttanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06109584805469336742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1144637277580477512006-04-09T22:47:00.000-04:002006-04-09T22:47:00.000-04:00I think for some people, United 93 may actually be...I think for some people, United 93 may actually be a cathartic experience. The overwhelming feeling that day was helplessness -- particularly in New York, where all the bridges, tunnels and exits out of town were shut. You were trapped and had no idea how many more attacks might be coming. (I was a science writer at the time, specializing in bioterrorism, so my imagination was working overtime. I STILL don't let my son drink tap water in New York.) <BR/><BR/>People like to imagine themselves standing up to evil and being brave. That's why Shindler's List meant so much to so many people. I'm willing to believe United 93 is more than just make-a-buck sensationalism. But I don't want to see it myself. And I don't want to see it advertised cavalierly, as if it were an ad for Milk Duds.Lisa Hunterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16273391238820872246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1144632329351165512006-04-09T21:25:00.000-04:002006-04-09T21:25:00.000-04:00Thanks for that Lisa - I can't imagine as a parent...Thanks for that Lisa - I can't imagine as a parent what that must have been like. Horrid. Terrifying. There aren't words.<BR/><BR/>And I really agree about the trailer. I think, in part, I could have ignored the whole thing and been less rattled by it if I hadn't seen that on tv. I really can't imagine what it would have felt like to have seen that in a movie theatre.<BR/><BR/>What I remember from 9/11 was getting phone calls from friends in the US, asking if we were okay. I think that's when it first sunk in that until the skies were clear, anything was possible. They did a security shutdown at my husband's work, and at the time it all seemed surreal.<BR/><BR/>Plus, I worked with kids. So my first conversation of the morning was with our resident news junkie, wanting to discuss this. You had kids who needed to talk and other kids plugging their ears, some who were clinging to radios - and you're supposed to make sense of what you don't even understand yourself for them all.<BR/><BR/>The security when we flew to Tunisia was incredible.Sandra Ruttanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06109584805469336742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1144631819116294192006-04-09T21:16:00.000-04:002006-04-09T21:16:00.000-04:00I'm a native New Yorker and was in the city on 9/1...I'm a native New Yorker and was in the city on 9/11 -- it was my son's first day of first grade. (We had just gotten the kids settled in and feeling safe when we had to evacuate amid pandemonium. The kids thought all the fire trucks were a parade.)<BR/><BR/>I don't object to someone's making a film about 9/11 -- most historic events are memorialized in film sooner or later -- but I VEHEMENTLY object to showing the trailer. To expect us to re-live that day, then sit back and eat our popcorn and watch the coming attraction for Bringing Down Da House 3 is beyond insensitive.Lisa Hunterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16273391238820872246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1144626319254364332006-04-09T19:45:00.000-04:002006-04-09T19:45:00.000-04:00There was a movie on The Learning Channel, or one ...There was a movie on The Learning Channel, or one of those cable channels about the flight that went down in Pennsylvania. I saw bits of it on Larry King when he interviewed some of the actors and parents of some of the better known passengers on the flight. <BR/><BR/>I dunno. The bits I saw were very realistic. But it happened less than five years ago. The images are still pretty fresh. I won't go see any 9/11 films on the big screen. Mostly because I'm afraid the film will trivialize it or, as you say, become a big wad of emotional manipulation. The Longest Day was released twenty years after D-Day. Forty years after it was released, it's still a powerful film. I can wait another 15 years for a film about 9/11.<BR/><BR/>Frankly, I'd prefer thoughtful documentaries on the topic, not Hollywood. There haven't been many of those made yet.<BR/><BR/>I watched Schindler's List with my eyes closed and I'll never watch it again - as important and valuable as I think that film is - I'll never watch it again.Mindy Tarquinihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02970872751327021013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1144616567047186732006-04-09T17:02:00.000-04:002006-04-09T17:02:00.000-04:00I think you're right, Meleta. Everyone will decid...I think you're right, Meleta. Everyone will decide, people will feel differently about it.<BR/><BR/>Though I definitely think this is one of those movies that people are going to not lecture people about going to see. Could be wrong. But I hope that people have enough sensitivity not to pressure people who aren't ready for it.<BR/><BR/>I know when I saw the advert, I resented the emotional manipulation. That's how I interpreted it. But again, that's just me.Sandra Ruttanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06109584805469336742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1144616070271126072006-04-09T16:54:00.000-04:002006-04-09T16:54:00.000-04:00Every Saturday, my boyfriend, his mother, and I go...Every Saturday, my boyfriend, his mother, and I go to the movies. It's a tradition that we all love. We were sitting in the movie theater watching the previews when they showed the trailer for the upcoming movie about 9/11. Immediately, I choked up. It surprised me. I thought I was over it. I thought the post traumatic shock (or whatever it's called) was gone. Apparently not. <BR/>After I got control of my emotions, I looked over at my boyfriend's mom sitting to my left. She was staring at me. We both said the same thing at the same time. "I'm not going to see that one. I can't."<BR/>Only time will tell if it's too early for other people. The main judge will be ticket sales. But it's still too early for me.<BR/>Exploitation? or creating heros? Profiting on pain? or telling a story? Each person will have to decide for themselves.Meleta McHarlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05563227612235558425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1144597498889871902006-04-09T11:44:00.000-04:002006-04-09T11:44:00.000-04:00I don't know that you're just being cynical, James...I don't know that you're just being cynical, James. People need their heroes to fill the void in themselves. And there were many heroes on that day. But I think this is the stuff of documentaries, of books, of serious treatment.<BR/><BR/>And if you go to the link you can watch the trailer - if it's the same one that I saw on tv here, the guy rips open his shirt and has a bomb pack on. Really? Why would anyone have even TRIED to overpower someone with explosives? Do people not watch the news?<BR/><BR/>Okay, I'm shutting up and turning the rant off.Sandra Ruttanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06109584805469336742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1144596799674822682006-04-09T11:33:00.000-04:002006-04-09T11:33:00.000-04:00I still have my Sari Club t-shirt from 1988, when ...I still have my Sari Club t-shirt from 1988, when we were staying in Kuta. 9/11 was devastating, but the Bali bombings hit home too.Cornelia Readhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16690027252725967075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1144595703206434672006-04-09T11:15:00.000-04:002006-04-09T11:15:00.000-04:00This is a tricky one. Sure, Hollywood is in it for...This is a tricky one. Sure, Hollywood is in it for the money, but only because it knows it can make it from this subject. How many times have you seen the image of the airliners hitting the twin towers since 9/11 - isn't that a slap in the face to the bereaved every time it's on the television? <BR/><BR/>But I agree with Erik - there's some subjects that shouldn't be treated as entertainment. <BR/><BR/>And seeing how Hollywood has treated other real life stories in the past, what will actually come out will probably be a ham-fisted attempt to show Americans as the hard-pressed saviours of the world, struggling heroically against a rising tide of insane bearded mullahs.<BR/><BR/>Or am I just being cynical?JamesOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09332376784689207703noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1144590225788114852006-04-09T09:43:00.000-04:002006-04-09T09:43:00.000-04:00Tragedy has always been a commodity, directly or i...Tragedy has always been a commodity, directly or indirectly.<BR/>Have a book about the Titantic published that year.<BR/>Tragedy sells newspapers and safety devices.<BR/>Of course, there's the claim of quid pro quo in news/information/lives, etc. when tragedy is sold direct.<BR/>Hollywood is such an easy target.<BR/>I wonder how many still prefer to think the terrorism of 9/11 was a one-off thing and prefer to bury it with the dead.<BR/>Idle thoughts on a Sunday morning.Bernitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05264585685253812090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18499463.post-1144589069276523252006-04-09T09:24:00.000-04:002006-04-09T09:24:00.000-04:00Wow. Heavy post.I'm with you, 100%.Unfortunately, ...Wow. Heavy post.<BR/>I'm with you, 100%.<BR/>Unfortunately, since "it's all about the money", others are not.<BR/><BR/>The stories should be told, all of them, at some appropriate time in the future, but not as entertainment movie fiction. Instead as possibly feature length documentary.<BR/><BR/>Hollywood will not be able to resist sensational fiction "for the sake of art". What they will really mean is; "for the sake of money and awards", as you suggested.<BR/><BR/>I agree, it's too early. But then, I'm not a member of the victims.Erik Ivan Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05564245949077955844noreply@blogger.com