Why I Won't See 'World Trade Center'
By Joe Mariani (08/04/06)
The buzz among Conservatives is that Oliver Stone's new movie about 9/11, "World Trade Center," is without political bias. If that's true, one has to wonder whether Liberals will attack the movie for being too maudlin and pro-American. Personally, I'll never know, because I will never see it for several reasons. And, for the record, I didn't see "United 93," either.
Regardless of the movie's bias or lack of same, it was made by notorious anti-American director Oliver Stone, who never met a Communist dictator he didn't like, and who referred to the terrorist attacks as "the revolt of September 11th." The movie also features actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, who believes the United States is "responsible in some way" for 9/11. People like that don't deserve a dime of my hard-earned American cash, nor do the anti-American causes which some of that money will ultimately fund. I don't need to watch Hollywood half-wits faking shock and sorrow they may have felt for perhaps a few seconds at best before they began blaming America for being the victim of terrorism.
My memories of 9/11 have not yet begun to fade. I almost wish they would. I will be able to see those people falling -- or worse, jumping -- out of those windows any time I close my eyes for the rest of my life. When I travel to north New Jersey or New York City, I'm still unable to stop myself from searching the now-unfamiliar skyline for towers where none now exist. .
When I want to see a movie about real New York heroes on September 11th, I'll watch the footage shot by two French filmmakers who happened to be making a documentary about a probationary firefighter that day. Jules and Gedeon Naudet followed the men of a lower Manhattan firehouse as they dealt with the attacks on the Twin Towers and the immediate aftermath. The accidental documentary, entitled simply "9/11," did a far better job than any slick Hollywood blockbuster ever could.
And when I want to learn about our enemies, I'll watch "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West," which I first saw when it premiered in Philadelphia in March 2006. Naturally, it became available on Google video right after I ordered the DVD, but it's money well spent.
I need no big-budget, big-screen reminders only five years after 9/11. Get back to me on the fiftieth anniversary, perhaps.
http://guardian.blogdrive.com/archive/cm-08_cy-2006_m-08_d-03_y-2006_o-0.html
(Printer friendly version) Email: Joe Mariani
