United 93:

The Inquirer had an article about two new movies coming out about 9/11 and reporter Alfred Lubrano asks if we're ready for them. I'd say maybe, but not for a fictionalized retelling of United flight 93. This isn't history, its propaganda. No one knows what really happened on 93 beyond a tape loop on the plane's Blackbox recorder and a few phone calls from the passengers. How can any make an entire movie about the "heroes" of flight 93 with nothing more that?

Lubrano asks, "Are studios exploiting pain for profit?" Well duh, of course they are and I think it's despicable. The movie company is even using family members of those who died in the plane to push the movie. In the movie's press materials they quote Allison Vadhan, daughter of flight 93 passenger Kristin White Gould, as saying she thinks it's a great idea. "We have to remember what happened." But no one knows what happened. I understand some families might want to see their dead loved ones portrayed as heroes, but is this the way to do it? Create out of whole clothe a story based on what some think may have happened on the flight? I'm sure Karl Rove is happy about the prospect, maybe he can recreate some 9/11 buzz for the upcoming 06' elections! This is the danger of movie producers trying to turn a buck on the tragedy of 9/11. Bush & Co. have already exploited 9/11 to the hilt to get us into two wars and endanger our very democratic way of life. We don't need Hollywood pushing our buttons for a profit.

I think the whole idea is totally perverted. According to the Inquirer story I'm not the only person who thinks so, either. "A trailer for United 93 elicited powerful reactions from audiences in New York and Los Angeles. A Manhattan theater pulled the teaser after complaints. People in a Hollywood theater shouted, 'Too soon.' A poll of moviegoers showed that 12 percent said they wouldn't see United 93 --- a significant number given that typical negative responses for a movie are often near 1 percent." (If only people were so worked up about the shameless exploitation of 9/11 on the part of the Bush administration to get us into a pointless war that has left 2,745 U.S. troops dead in Iraq.)

I can't even bare to look at any of the footage of 9/11 without reliving all the pain of that day. I can't imagine going to a theater to watch a 120 movie about 40 people dying in a futile attempt to take control of flight 93. What on Earth are the producers of this movie thinking? And what might some of those who do go see it think about their Arab-American neighbors afterwards? Will we have a rerun of all the violence that went on right after 9/11 against Muslims? The emotions of 9/11 are still very raw; I think Hollywood is playing with fire.