Speaking of films, United 93 comes out this month. I feel compelled to go see this film. I can hardly make it through the trailer of this film, so I don’t know how I will make it through the whole film. I understand why many in NYC yelled “too soon!” at the theatres when the trailer was played. I was in the WTC just a couple of weeks before the attack, so I can’t help picturing the scene inside the building.
9/11 was incredibly personal to me, as it was to a lot of Americans. My aunt is a WTC survivor. We have many friends that are also WTC survivors. Another family member would have been in one of the floors that was directly hit by the first plane had he not taken the day off of work to take his child to school on the first day of kindergarten. My uncle, a NY firefighter, nearly had a breakdown as he pulled body after mangled body out of the rubble. Babies. Lots of babies. My dad developed some sort of lung disease after inhaling the smoke and dusty air while helping administer first aid.
I remember I was here on the day it happened. I was in my office (across campus from where I am now). Lis Thompson IMed me to tell me what was going on. I couldn’t get to a TV. All of the Internet sites were having too many hits. I turned on the radio. Listening to the radio for news made me feel like someone out of the 40’s. I remember the news talking about how this was an attack by the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization).
That night, I sat in front of the TV watching it over and over until I couldn’t watch any longer. I opted to sit in my closet instead. A good friend with whom I hadn’t talked in a long time gave me a much appreciated phone call.
Is it too soon? Oliver Stone will be capitalizing on the terrorist act next year, so why not something that honors the victims of Flight 93 now? Yeah, I have to see this film. But I’m not excited about.
