It feels fitting on the fifth anniversary of the planes crashing into the World Trade Centre in New York to watch the film United 93 -- an informed fictional account of the only plane not to connect with its target on that fateful day.
What strikes the viewer is the suffering of the innocents as the plane descends into the Pennsylvanian countryside. Everyone fights for their lives and are shocked to find themselves in the situation. We have all run the thought experiment of what you would do in the last minutes of your life if the end was inevitable. Most of the actors in the film declare their love.
Is it interesting that North Americans (perhaps westerners) can so easily understand the context of the film. Innocents are caught in the crossfire of global political tension and the result is tragedy. But we don't seem to be able to extend this to people from other lands and cultures. Over 40,000 civilians have been killed in the was in Iraq. One can imagine if they could make movies that reached North American audiences the same impact would be felt.
The photo that accompanies this post was taken three weeks after 9/11 on a trip to New York for a friend's wedding. It is absolutely true that if you visit the site when people are thinking about what happened a fog hangs in the air. On the plane from Toronto to New York an Egyptian man sat three rows behind me. I noticed him as soon as I got on. I watched his movements as he went to the bathroom with his bag and was about to say something (feeling guilty of racial profiling later) when a 10-year-old kid between us told the stewardess: "... that man has been in there for a while and he has a turban". She banged on the door and there was some excitement in the plane before he emerged a minute later. Turns out he was a Coptic priest with piles.
Nothing speaks with greater urgency to our understanding of the world than 9/11. Perhaps it is because it represents the anarchy of the unpredictable. A bomb on our plane is no different from a sudden bomb in our house. The continued tragedy of the innocents does not speak well to the development of humanity.
See also Evil Genius and Misinformation and Spin on the Chris Brauer Media Project
