Consider it a civic duty to see compelling United 93
IN most movies made to convey dread, the tension flows from uncertainty about what will happen. In United 93, terror comes from knowing exactly what will happen. People who associate cinematic menace with maniacs wielding chain saws will find that there can be an almost unbearable menace in the quotidian - in the small talk of passengers waiting in the boarding area with those who will murder them, in the routine shutting of the plane’s door prior to push-back from the gate at Newark Airport on Sept. 11.
When I saw the first trailer for United 93, I swore that I would under no conceivable circumstance see the movie. I wanted no part of anyone making money off the tragedy of 9.11. As time went by, though, and I did a little research, my conviction began to waver. Learning that the families of those killed aboard Flight 93 were unanimously behind the movie helped, as did the reviews I read that indicated that Paul Greengrass used facts whenever they were available, and only resorted to artistic license in the absence of fact.
After considersable discussion, She Who Endures My Myriad Eccentricities and I finally decided to give in and see United 93. I didn’t expect two hours of escapism or mindless Hollywood entertainment. Yes, I understood that I wasn’t going to see RV, and I knew that United 93 was going to be a difficult experience. Having lived through 9.11 (like all of us), I knew what the end result would be. I knew that there would be no happy ending. What I didn’t know, and certainly didn’t expect, was the tremendous, almost unbearably emotional impact United 93 would have on me. She Who Endures My Myriad Eccentricities became physically ill and went straight to bed when we got home.
United 93 is not a movie for someone not completely convinced they are ready to relive the most terrible day in our nation’s history. It’s a difficult and highly emotional trip back to a day that impacted each and every American to varying degrees. To those of us who lost friends and/or loved ones on 9.11, the impact of United 93 is something I cannot even begin to describe. For George Will to describe seeing United 93 as a “civic duty” is something I simply can’t find it within myself to agree with. Yes, being reminded of 9.11 certainly is not a bad thing, but for those of us who haven’t forgotten, it’s just too much. WAY too much….
In a movie as spare and restrained as its title, the only excess is the suggestion, itself oblique, that the government responded even more confusedly that morning than was to be expected. Most government people, like the rest of us, were in the process of having their sense of the possible abruptly and radically enlarged.
Going to see United 93 is a civic duty because Samuel Johnson was right: People more often need to be reminded than informed. After an astonishing 56 months without a second terrorist attack, this nation perhaps has become dangerously immune to astonishment. The movie may quicken our appreciation of the measures and successes - many of which must remain secret - that have kept would-be killers at bay.
If one were to follow Will’s way of thinking, seeing United 93 is necessary to convince the American sheeple of the necessity of supporting the travelling road show that is Our Glorious Leader’s never-ending war on terror. I suppose that one could view United 93 in that light, but that would seem to miss the point of the movie. In my mind, the point was not to make a political statement or to provide propaganda support for the Administration. The point of United 93, if in fact there is one, is to commemorate a group of ordinary Americans who set out on that beautiful Tuesday morning in September thinking that they were flying to San Francisco. There is no way those aboard Flight 93 could have possibly expected what they were in for when the plane went wheels-up from Newark…and perhaps that is the true message of United 93.
Last week I flew to Tampa. This week I’m flying to St. Louis. It’s easy to take those things for granted. One gets on a plane, and one fully expects to get off at your destination, perhaps a bit careworn for the hassles of air travel, but certainly safe and intact. So it undoubtedly was for those who boarded Flight 93 and the other three highjacked flights on 9.11. The victims were ordinary travellers, people like you and me simply trying to get from Point A to Point B. It could have been any of us.
My recommendation, if you’re in the mood for it, would be to see United 93- if you think you’re prepared to revisit the events of that terrible day. If you’re not, or even if you harbor any doubts about whether or not you’re prepared, my advice would be to carefully consider your choices. United 93 is an honest portrayal of the events of that day- or at least as a Hollywood movie can be about such things. It is not, however, an easy thing to watch or experience.
See United 93 if you think you’re ready to, not because you buy into George WIll’s contention that it’s some sort of civic duty. If you’ve forgotten 9.11, no movie is going to help. If you think you’re ready to relive 9.11, then United 93 is worth the $8. Just don’t expect to be entertained.
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