Monday, May 22, 2006

Ready or Not: I saw the movie United 93 before I went on vacation. I also saw the A&E made-for-TV movie Flight 93 and read the book Among the Heroes. The movies were good, but I wasn't too impressed with the book. The films, especially United 93, didn't overdramatize or glorify anything. They simply stuck to the facts as best as possible, and filled in some gaps on the parts that were unknowable.

Now Oliver Stone plans to release his movie World Trade Center in August, depicting the true story of the rescue of two police officers from the rubble at Ground Zero. Unlike the other movies, this one seems to include the swelling music and overbearing special effects you expect from Hollywood treatments. But I'll reserve judgment until it comes out.

The big controversy, though, is whether it's "too soon" to make these movies. Hell, most of the real accounts of 9/11 were documented that day with television cameras. It's not like we need any visual interpretation of the events. We all know them by heart.

That said, I don't think it's possible to do anything "too soon" anymore. The world just moves faster than it ever has. Everything is on-demand and microwaved. Our attention spans have shrunk. So it's no surprise that nostalgia comes 10 times quicker than it used to.

The people who are bothered by these images will never be ready to watch these movies, right until the day they die. The rest of us want to be reminded about what this fight is about.