Flight 93 pushed the envelope; This New "Twin Tower" movie is taking it too far!
Ok. I was pretty vocal among my friends when Flight 93 came out; I intended to write a post about it, but finals got in the way. It is way too soon for Hollywood to be attempting to make money on a national tragedy. I would have been more concerned, but Flight 93 came and went so quickly in headlines and conversations that I almost forgot it existed. That is until my unexpected viewing of the trailer of the next theatrical attempt at capitalizing on 9/11.
My wife and I were at the movies, and the very first trailer to play was "Twin Towers". It basically runs like this:
Dramatic Music Starts playing.
Cops getting to work in the morning.
Cops seeing on TV that a plane hits the World Trade Center.
Cops driving to the scene.
Some cops to scared to go in, they take volunteers and a few step up.
Dramatic Music intensifies.
The Tower starts to fall down.
Cops trapped inside.
3 or 4 Shots of women crying while watching the Towers fall on TV.
Are you freakin kidding me!! Do we need to be reminded of all of the women that had to watch as the buildings their husbands worked in toppled to the ground? What sort of cheap stunt is that? Didn't it ever occur that maybe some 9/11 widow might go to watch a movie and have to sit there watching a dramatization of what they went through? I felt sick after seeing that.
posted by Bubba @ 5/27/2006 11:08:00 PM
8 comments
8 Comments:
So, is your only objection that the movie is making money?
Other than the uncomfortable nature of dealing with sensitive issues, do you object from a moral or aesthetic standpoint?
Posted by Dallas Robbins Dallas Robbins
Overall when I think about I tend to agree with siyadow, people can make movies about whatever they want and people can go see movies about whatever they want. If it is too soon or distasteful then the flick won't make money, if it does make money then the makers were right and there is interest. Basic supply and demand (no demand withme personally by the way, I don't want to see 'em).
However, my first reaction to these movies was just like Taylor's, it seems kind of tasteless to try to cash in on a tragedy like 9-11 so soon. Many of the movies about tragedies that I have seen and liked are about things that happened a long time ago, that my generation wasn't around to experience so it is kind of educational, a way to know your past. I don't have the same instinct against these movies about older events.
If these 9-11 movies are in bad taste, maybe it is more of a commentary on American society (demand) than on the movie makers (supply)
Hmm... in that case, can I throw in 24 into this category as well?
Maybe we should just pass out Hoodies of Invincibility to every American citizen - then we'd all be safe... just like Jack.
I guess in my mind, there is a difference between the "Hollywood" that produces the big blockbuster movies, and the "Smallywood" that produced the most of movies you listed. I hold Hollywood to a higher standard, I tolerate Smallywood because I want the 1st Amendment too. Every once and a while the line between the two is blurred, but I think that in this case it is clear that Flight 93 and Twin Towers are Hollywood movies.
Holy cow, did I really just write that I hold Hollywood to a higher standard? I sound like Kerry!
Maybe the difference is that hollywood does it for the money, baby. the smallywood guys mostly just want to share a message. so, the hollywood pictures seem a little more, you know, sinister because they want to make $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ off of it.
but then, i keep getting mailers from the republican party requesting donations to help us fight "those 9/11 terrorists" so i suppose those mailers are like hollywood.
Why are we upset that Hollywood is evoking emotions with displays of the most terrible terrorist act on American soil? Does the event being portrayed, in itself, not deserve any sentiment? Should Hollywood work pro bono on all projects relating to historical events?
Why are we not at least equally outraged that media providers are trying to force emotions out of us to be spent on far more meaningless events like American Idol?
Posted by Mark Bentley
Casablanca (1942) and Twelve O'Clock High (1949) were great movies. Timely, too.
Posted by John Mansfield