Posted on 03/11/2002 5:53:56 AM PST by veronica
I feel drained now, just with the images of it.
The playful innocence of that morning; the boyish enthusiasm of the probie fire-fighter; the sudden noise of a plane too low; the confusion of the first hit; the denial; the helplessness in the lobby of Tower 1;
Father Judge muttering his last prayers, as he paced the floor; the dread in the eyes of so many fire-fighters, about to enter the inferno; the foul, heart-stopping sound of bodies plunging to the ground; the dazed group of workers emerging from a suddenly-released elevator; the unforgettable footage under a car
as dust human dust swirled through the air, turning it black, and then darting around like specs of plankton under water; the crowds of bewildered, terrified people running and walking and screaming and pointing on the streets; a strong man and experienced fire-fighter vomiting into the Fire House trash-can upon his return; the ashen quiet of white-powdered streets in the aftermath; the bemused, almost deranged, calm of an old, heavy businessman slowly walking away from Tower 1, not thinking even to wipe his dust-covered glasses;
the strained and numbed relief of those finding their brothers are alive; the bleakness of those who werent so lucky. I would say Im glad to be reminded, as one fire fighter put it, of how evil evil can be.
But there is no gladness. It is simply a good thing that we remember that we are still at war; that the enemy launched it with a callousness that should banish any doubts about the morality of our cause; and that, when resolve falters, we remember the people and civilization were fighting for and the thousands of victims who have already paid the price.
In an odd way, having seen it all again, I feel less afraid of what lies ahead, and more eager to get on with it.
The simple virtue of those rescuers remind us of what human beings are capable of, and the invincible character of the civilization they are a part of, however ruthless the evil arrayed against it.
You may be right .. But I also can't help but think of a story I read once of how after W.W.II .. Many German people did not believe the stories of Jews being killed .. That is until these people were brought to the Concentration Camps to see for their own eyes. Many were horrified at what they saw and were sickened
So that is why I made the comment I did
But I agree if that doesn't get them to understand .. nothing will and God help them
Oh heck I learned more from The History Channel then I ever learned from the Philadelphia Public School System
I think you need to relax... while I agree the true horror of that day needs to be seen, not just heard and described, I don't feel for one moment the reality of what happened on 9/11 was lost by the film maker conciously not turning his camera right to show 2 people on fire, or to focus on the body parts.
This documentary at its heart was about the firefighters of that particular fire house... it was a story of humanity in the face of unbelievable evil. It was told by and shot from the perspective of the firefighters. I think it was done very well. I was not crazy about the occassional and pointless narration, the work stood for itself, you didn't need Deniro voicing over every 15 or 20 minutes for 1 or 2 sentences.. it was out of place and added nothing. The cameraman and the firefighters told the story.. I don't know why they had him narrating most of the time.
I don't think we need to see the body in the street to know what happened, the sickening thud and the words of the firefighters themselves at the recognition of what it was made the point plainly. You didn't need to see the macabre of body parts, the words of 1 firefighter, ("this was 2 110 story office buildings, and in the rubble there isn't a desk, there isn't a chair, there isn't a phone.. the biggest piece of a phone I found was a part of a keypad about this big" (paraphrased) left little to the imagination, as did anothers "it was raining body parts"...
I do agree the photo evidence of this even needs to get out, as macabe and sickening as it is, but this documentary was not the place for it. It would not have added one iota to the impact of what was going on.
Anytime I see an movie and the WTC comes into scene, I find myself transfixed to the point where I can't pay attention to anything else going on in that particular scene.
I was channel-surfing the other night and I came across the closing credits to some old Barbra Streisand film from the 1970s. As the credits rolled, lower Manhattan was filmed from a helicopter and the Towers were standing prominently throughout the scene. I found myself watching the credits in their entirety just to stare at the WTC.
Unbelievable.
I'm sure they'll wind up on the internet in due time.
I hope your words are not directed at me because those words I posted aren't mine, nor do I agree with them.
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