9/11 Movies
On Love's Forever Changes (a lost 60's classic released on CD in 2001, a Beukey "get") there is a line that states "The news today will be the movies for tomorrow". That line has stuck with me since the first time I heard it.
The line was written in decaying flower power era in the late 60's; I first heard the song in 2001. It made me think of all the movies that were made to try and explain the events of the 60's. That period is well before my time; but my conception of the era is no doubt shaped by what I saw in those movies. I can still recall scenes from the movie version of "Hair". Although I never went before a draft board, participated in an anti-Vietnam march etc., I somehow think that movie is representative of what actually happened.
But after I heard the line, it made me think about how accurate such a movie could be (and how people would accept the movie as being accurate). I doubt the filmmakers strove for historical accuracy, they wanted to tell a visually compelling story, not bore anyone, and make some money. Not that these are bad things, but one should be aware that what you see on the screen is not history.
Which leads me to the 9/11 movies. The events are recent and significant enough that we all remember it, but movies are not a substitute for history. And since we are still reacting to and trying to understand what happened on 9/11, people should take the time and effort to read about and think about the events. Not watch some movie studio's dramatic interpretation and recasting of events.
I have not seen the movie United 93, nor do I have any interest in seeing it. Whatever you think of that movie (or its underlying concept), it has a limited (if any) sense of historical accuracy. No one on that flight is around to give a first person account of what happened. Therefore no filmmaker can make a historically accurate recreation of the events. This movie should not serve as our nation's official memory of what actually happened on that flight.
I shudder to think that 10 years from now instead of someone reading a serious historical document about the events of 9/11, they will pop in a DVD of United 93 and think "Oh, so that's what happened."
The line was written in decaying flower power era in the late 60's; I first heard the song in 2001. It made me think of all the movies that were made to try and explain the events of the 60's. That period is well before my time; but my conception of the era is no doubt shaped by what I saw in those movies. I can still recall scenes from the movie version of "Hair". Although I never went before a draft board, participated in an anti-Vietnam march etc., I somehow think that movie is representative of what actually happened.
But after I heard the line, it made me think about how accurate such a movie could be (and how people would accept the movie as being accurate). I doubt the filmmakers strove for historical accuracy, they wanted to tell a visually compelling story, not bore anyone, and make some money. Not that these are bad things, but one should be aware that what you see on the screen is not history.
Which leads me to the 9/11 movies. The events are recent and significant enough that we all remember it, but movies are not a substitute for history. And since we are still reacting to and trying to understand what happened on 9/11, people should take the time and effort to read about and think about the events. Not watch some movie studio's dramatic interpretation and recasting of events.
I have not seen the movie United 93, nor do I have any interest in seeing it. Whatever you think of that movie (or its underlying concept), it has a limited (if any) sense of historical accuracy. No one on that flight is around to give a first person account of what happened. Therefore no filmmaker can make a historically accurate recreation of the events. This movie should not serve as our nation's official memory of what actually happened on that flight.
I shudder to think that 10 years from now instead of someone reading a serious historical document about the events of 9/11, they will pop in a DVD of United 93 and think "Oh, so that's what happened."
posted by Beukey @ 6:04 AM
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