Too Soon To See 9/11? It's Been Too Long (El Rushbo On The Forthcoming United 93 Movie Alert)

They showed a trailer of the upcoming movie about United 93, about 9/11. The AMC Loews theater in Manhattan's Upper West Side took the rare step of pulling the trailer for the upcoming movie "United 93" about 9/11 from its screens after several complaints, reports senior writer Sean Smith and reporter Jac Chebatoris in the April 10th issue of Newsweek, which is on the stands today. "'One lady was crying,' says one of the theater's managers, Kevin Adjodha. 'She was saying we shouldn't have [played the trailer]. That this was wrong ... I don't think people are ready for this.'" Viewers in other cities are reacting as well. "When the trailer played before 'Inside Man' last week at the famed Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, audience members began calling out, 'Too soon!' Audiences seem to be split on the issue. 'I don't think that's a movie I really want to see,' says Jackie Alvarez, 73, of San Ramon, Calif., after seeing the trailer. 'It gave me the creeps. It's way too soon.'" We've got another mantra here that's sprung up, folks, "It's too soon."

"But 17-year-old Antoine Richardson of Memphis, Tenn., is looking forward to it. 'I don't think it's exploitative or too soon,' he says. 'It helps us remember.'" Carole O'Hare, whose 79-year-old mother, Hilda Marcin, died on the flight, says she feels the criticism that universal studio is exploiting a national tragedy is unfair. "This story has to be told to honor the passengers and crew for what they did. But more than that, it raises awareness. Our ports aren't secure. Our borders aren't secure. Our airlines still aren't secure, and this is what happens when you're not secure. That's the message I want people to hear." Can you believe this? The networks will not show pictures of that day, 9/11, we're in the midst of an argument in this country over whether it is worthwhile to prevent another such attack. The Democrats in this country doing everything they can to stop the president from finding out via the NSA spy program. Censure and future impeachment movement if they win back the House, is one thing they're targeting.

We've got the whole Democratic Party up until last week when they said they're going to take back the security issue, we will have more on that today, too. The Democratic Party says we're going to take back the security issue. They have spent four and a half years deriding, criticizing, ridiculing the entire war on terror and the war in Iraqi, which are linked. I mean, we're fighting the terrorists and their agents who would do more 9/11s in Iraq. The Democrats want to pull out of there and go get bin Laden. What do you have to do, invade Pakistan to do that? That's where he's said to be hiding. At any rate, folks, I think this is illustrative of a problem we've got because I will guarantee you that the vast majority of the residents on the Upper West Side are the same people who think it's silly that we're doing what we're doing in Iraq and that it's silly that the war on terror is being fought the way it is. And yet Bush lied about all this, Bush knew about it, he was going to let it happen, Bush lied about Iraq, he lied about weapons of mass destruction. And yet the very event that has made this a reality for us and our lives today, they don't have the guts to look at, they don't have the courage to look at it, too soon, too soon.

Too soon? It's been too long! People have forgotten what it's all about. This movie would serve the purpose of reminding everybody why we are in the posture that we're in, why we have to assume the responsibilities, and why it's crucial who leads the nation in future years in this effort. You know, I just think this is just typical of many in the American left. Oh, they can huff and puff, go out and show Fahrenheit 9/11 all day long, they can go watch that. They can go watch garbage and lies that their documentarians and so-called comedians make and it's never too soon to watch any of that. We can go watch all these movies that try to prove Bush lied and that Bush was in this for oil and that all this is trumped up and fake and phony and unnecessary. Let reality rear its head, "Oh, no, I can't be confronted with reality, why, that is too soon, too painful." It's not just a New York mentality.

This is happening in cities around the country, "It's too soon." So theater owners are not even showing trailers. What's going to happen, mark my words, what's going to happen because of this, when this movie does hit the screen -- I don't even know when it's scheduled to be released -- when it hits the screen, this kind of controversy, and who knows it may even be Hollywood-stoked, is going to cause people to go see this movie in droves. Any time you have people saying, "No, I can't bear to watch it, it's too soon." "Ooh! What is it? They know from a trailer it's... oh, gosh, I can't wait to see this." You watch and see if it just doesn't manifest itself that way.

RUSH: Let's go the phones, Elk Grove, California. Amy, you're up first and it's wonderful to have you with us. Hi.

CALLER: I was actually calling to let you know that I've seen the first trailers and it was hard to watch, and I didn't want to go thinking it would be exploitative, but they have a new trailer out there that interviews the families, and it completely changed my mind. I will definitely go see it.

RUSH: All right, tell me, what was in the first trailer -- you can do it -- tell me what was in the first trailer that so upset you.

CALLER: Well, it opens with just radio talk, controller talk, and you immediately feel this kind of foreboding sense that you know what's coming, even if they haven't told you it's about 9/11, you can tell.

CALLER: Then it shows clips of cockpit scenes and the coach and then it lets you know what's happening, and it's very quickly shot, and then they show a quick shot of them storming the cockpit. They show families calling and that kind of thing, and it's just so sad that anyone that knows about it, it's difficult to watch, but the second trailer--

RUSH: It ought to be difficult to watch. That's what happened. It ought to be difficult to watch.

CALLER: It is, and I agree. It's just sad and I think people don't like to feel that kind of emotion, whether or not it's the second time or third time or it's the first time.

RUSH: I know they don't like to feel that kind of emotion, but it's time to grow up and understand that you did feel it once, and we're in a precarious circumstance in this country where more and more people don't think it's necessary to defend against this and to see to it that it doesn't happen anymore. There are people out there trying to convince as many Americans as possible this is just a random act, that there's no reason to go to war over it, to defend it. You've got others who are saying, like Michael Moore in his documentary, that Bush made all this up, lied about it. I mean, I think people need to be shocked back to reality here.

CALLER: Yeah, I agree, I agree. I think it will be a good thing for people to put the human experience behind it because I think people have detracted and pulled back and said, "Oh, it's a terrible thing, and let's hope it doesn't happen again," but when we go back and live through it as humans --

RUSH: I think we got too many people that want to pretend it didn't happen. They want to go through life and forget it. Democrats have been playing on that, trying to create this pre-9/11 world and mentality that we're going to have if they're simply elected to power again. I think there's some people that don't want to face the reality of it. It is painful and so forth, but it happened. It was a seminal, defining moment, and the more people that forget it and try to tune it out -- we're going to need the people of this country on board, is my point in order to ultimately win this. Make no mistake, there are people actively trying to convince as many Americans as possible it's not worth it. Here's Ralph in Houston. Ralph, you're next on the EIB Network. Hi.

CALLER: To me, Flight 93 was a defining moment in the sense that the hijack victims of Flight 93, when they understood what was going on, changed themselves into the Flight 93 militia and fired the shot heard around the world, the beginning of the war against Al-Qaeda, followed by Congress and Bush officially declaring that same war. To me, this is something that I think is probably -- since 1776 we haven't had a moment like this. These victims said "We will be victims no more," they became soldiers, men and women alike, shoulder to shoulder, and took on Al-Qaeda and said, "You will not succeed," and they took down that plane, and I think it's marvelous.

RUSH: I can't add anything to that. I mean, that's right on the money. Great point. Kevin in Sacramento, California, my adopted hometown. You're next.

RUSH: Well, I float really well, sir. Thanks for saying that, that's very nice of you.

CALLER: I just wanted to say that I think the people on Flight 93 accomplished more in a few minutes than the Democrats have accomplished in four or five years --

CALLER: I have a slightly different take on Flight 93 than Amy. I can appreciate her view, as I think a lot of people feel that way, and it's tragic the loss of life, but for the people to know what the probable consequences were and to get up out of their seats, I mean that's the true definition of courage. And that is what has fueled this country, whether you're talking about, you know, the Marines on Iwo Jima or soldiers, sailors, airmen over in Iraq right now, that even though they're scared and even they know that the end is coming, they still were able to fight through. That just motivates the heck out of me. I appreciate the loss of life. But, you know, the Vikings had a saying that, "My days are already written out on the skins of time, and all that is left to me is to die bravely." And that's what those people did.

RUSH: They did. It's interesting that -- I haven't seen the movie. I hope that the people on board this plane are going to be portrayed as heroic and as heroes. Why that should frighten anybody -- you're right, it's inspirational. That's what it ought to be. We don't know where that plane was going, but everybody guesses it was headed back to Washington to either hit the Capital or the White House. By the way, that is a fabulous point about the passengers on Flight 93 having done more to fight terrorism than the Democratic Party has since 9/11 of 2001. But I had a conversation on Saturday with a man who lost a son in the World Trade Center, and it was a most fascinating discussion, because he opened it up, agreed to talk about it. We were driving back from playing golf, in which he and I remain undefeated in team play, taking on all the comers, and we had won the match on the last hole, went to the last hole, and we were dead even, all square, and he birdied that hole. So he had the most interesting point about that plane, Flight 93.

One of them was supposed to come back to Washington and hit something. Now, he's emotionally involved here. He said this plane that was supposed to hit either the White House or the Capitol, he said there have been times -- and he doesn't hold the view now -- but he said, "There were times I wish it had hit the Capitol, to wake this place up." He feels betrayed by his government for years prior to 9/11, for not doing anything to stop this, for being hamstrung and tongue-tied. He was very much, "Where's the Air Force? Where's our defense system? We got all these airplanes flying around and nobody knows where they're going because they've shut off the transponders, and nothing was done to stop 'em, to figure out what was going on, and it's just a bunch of people who care more about being reelected every year than actually doing things. So it would have been a nice shakeup." He didn't really mean it, that was what he was telling me to illustrate his frustration and make the point. You talk to the 9/11 families about this, and I don't know that many of them, but their lives are never going to be the same. I mean, in countless ways that you can't even imagine.

What's really amazing is reading some of the 9/11 threads on here. I remember reading them late one night after the family was asleep. It was really like reliving it. For a while there I forgot how quiet my house was.

There are no words...

My oldest son was seven years old when it happened. At seven he did not understand what had really happened. I remember the first night trying to explain it to him, because I didn't want him making towers with his Legos and running Lego airplanes into them. He seemed to understand at the time. It was another year or two before he really understood what had happened. He kept telling himself it had been an accident. To this day he still creeps out when he sees my favorite WTC postcard with a flag next to it. It's not something children should have to deal with at that age, but there were children who had to deal with worse that day. The other children I had that were alive at that time were too young to remember. My 8 year old looks oblivious at the mention of 9/11.

Just look at the controversy with "The Passion of The Christ" It happened nearly 2000 years ago and it seemed that many people were not ready, especially The Academy. People aren't ready because they would like to keep their heads in the sand with the belief that it could never happen again, and they are comforted in their naivete. They don't want to relive it and perhaps deal with a reality that it very well could happen.

what upsets me the most is the way the Dem's in congress have acted this whole time. Instead of standing up and doing what is right. It has all be just same old same old grandstanding. Yet from the evidence that has been uncovered it appears the flight 93 was going to hit the capitol.

The very ones who these Brave Heroes die to protect have done all they can to try and get us all to forget about it. Many in congress owe their lives to these Heroes and just don't appreciate it. At best they just offer lip service to them and to our Military

It's difficult to explain what it is to somebody who wasn't here. People in the area saw things that weren't broadcast. That will never be broadcast.

I know several people who have moved since 9/11 and still suffer emotional problems, lack of sleep, panic attacks, extraordinarily morbid thoughts. A couple of other people I know developed addictions. Some have started taking prescription drugs. These were all very well-balanced people.

I myself find it difficult to look at the pictures such as the one posted above.

no it isn't

OK. Maybe it's because true stories of mass murder by a mortal enemy can be extremely ugly and make you mad - and maybe make you sad if you lost somebody close?

Nearly five years of mourning is usually enough to take off the shock of homicide and turn the outrage into something useful. But, maybe New Yorkers and Hollywooders are different?

If it's too painful, don't go see the movie.

People aren't ready because they would like to keep their heads in the sand with the belief that it could never happen again, and they are comforted in their naivete. They don't want to relive it and perhaps deal with a reality that it very well could happen.

oh yeah, everyone in NYC is pretty much reminded that it could happen again because of the military presence -- M16s in clear view in many areas as well as the Hercules team as well as bag checks on subways and the announcements.

I know I still do.

I was sitting way far away in a parking lot at a Nuclear Generating station in Illinois when I got the first cell phone call from my wife.

I had to go in for meeting. Needless to say, my presentation/meeting was less than impressive. My mind was simply not on the purpose of the meeting.

By the time I went to leave the facility, the plant security personnel had already closed down all traffic.

I will never forget that damned day!

It isn't mourning. It's something else.

OK. Help out the rest of us who are apparently uninformed, please.

What?

To Hollywood, "getting it right" and "telling the truth" are not the same thing.

It's reality that's incorrect, not them.

My husband works with a man from NYC who packed up with his family after Sept 11. Our little city was ranked as one of the best small cities in the country at the time, so they chose us. I would imagine being a witness to it would be horriffic. People who have gone through it personally would have different reasons for not seeing it than my example of keeping their head in the sand. I would also bet that many people are against this movie because it may unite the country again. Something that very well may scare the clinton-types out there.

btw, I was near Shanksville yesterday and just seeing the sign to go to the memorial brought a sadness over me. I think it was A&E that aired a Flight 93 movie. The range of emotions that came over me and the clarity of how I felt that day was unbelievable.

It's not mourning, it anti-Americanism.

The left hates patriotism, they hated that flags came out after 9/11, their propaganda anchors removed their flag pins within a week.

They mocked those who flew the flag in solidarity, and they still mock it today.

New Yorkers aren't against it because they feel it will unite the country. That's not even on the radar.

I was a witness to the thing and there afterwards. It was pretty bad, but I'm here until they scatter my ashes over the floors of half a dozen of my favorite ginmills.

Oh my goodness, you misunderstood what I wrote. Read it again, you will find it was the exact opposite of what you thought.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.