May 5, 2006 6:48 AM

Will there ever be a good time for something like this?

Is it too soon for United 93?

When trailers for United 93, the first theatrical movie about the 9/11 terrorist attacks, first appeared last month, shocked audience members in some New York theaters shouted “Too soon!” at the screen. After weeks of debate - Is the movie too painful to watch? Is Hollywood exploiting the horror of that fateful day?

Four-plus years later and it’s still an open, raw wound. I suppose that, this being America, it was just a matter of time before someone decided to make a movie that would chronicle the events of 9.11. The question that’s being asked, though, is if now is the right time. IS is too soon? And if not now, when? Will we ever be able to face the events of that day without being slapped in the face with the pure, unadulterated emotional torment being part and parcel of the process?

I’ve gone back and forth regarding whether or not I want to see United 93. Like many Americans, 9.11 had a huge impact on me and the way I view the world. I lost a friend and college classmate that day. There is now a tree planted in Tim’s honor on the campus of Macalester College in St. Paul, MN. I will never be able to make a trip back to my alma mater without being reminded of Tim and of 9.11. That Hollywood is now involved is something that I find very disturbing… and oddly comforting.

Hollywood’s involvment in telling the story of 9.11 is comforting in the sense that it highlights the major impact that the events of that terrible day had on this country. Few of us weren’t impacted, whether directly or indirectly. We all lost a large degree of our innocence that day, and we in all likelihood will never be able to return to that place.

What disturbs me is that, even though the families of Flight 93 were, as I understand it, unanimously supportive of the making of United 93, this film is still a commercial endeavor. Everyone involved is making money off the film, which is something that I have troubling wrapping my head around. The idea of making money off of 9.11, no matter how well-made, gripping, and historically accurately United 93may be just seems horribly wrong.

From the interviews I’ve seen and the reviews I’ve read of United 93 it appears that the director went with facts whenever they were available and used creative license when they weren’t. I suppose you couldn’t ask for much more. In many ways, United 93 is a more accurate portrayal of what took place than the official version of events provided by our own government. Government officials and agencies involved in the response to the events of 9.11 have spent the better part of the past five years furiously spinning the truth to place themselves in a more positive light. When you get right down to it, though, it’s just lies and propaganda, which only serves to make 9.11 a significantly more painful experience.

I don’t know if I’m ready, able, or even willing to see United 93. If I do go, it will likely have to be a spur-of-the-moment decision, becuase if I think about it for any length of time, I can’t face it. I’m not certain that I’ll ever be able to.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on May 5, 2006 6:48 AM.

Panem et circenses was the previous entry in this blog.

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