I’d like to
address the representation of the Al-Qaeda terrorists in the movie, United 93.
I found it interesting when I
paid attention the way in which the terrorists were portrayed because there was
little done to address their motives and such.
Although I realize that the premise of the movie is to depict the events
on the actual day of September 11, 2001, I can’t help but wonder if a crucial
element was left out. Because the focus
was that specific day, I understand that prior events, such as the thoughts of
the terrorists and how they came to be associated with Al-Qaeda, can become
less of a priority than if its goal was to truly delve deeply into the history
behind the attacks. However, as one of
the only movies that took on that major task of depicting the 9/11 attacks, it
would have been beneficial for the movie’s creators to realize the power that
was in their hands. Since the attacks
are such a horrifying event in recent American history, many Americans would
clearly be interested in seeing the movie.
Therefore, it would have been an important move for the creators to try
to explain what motivated the terrorists.
Although such topics aren’t necessarily the most popular among Americans
because it’s a (for lack of a better word ) touchy subject, it is important
that we understand the terrorists’ side of things to, if only to gain a
thorough understanding of that day. Although
I can’t speak for others, I find that some people feel that thinking about the
motives means, in some way, accepting the attacks as legitimate; however, I argue
that doing so only helps us to understand the attacks, not justify them in any
way. Ultimately, my point is that it
would have done the movie justice if its creators had decided to incorporate
more background information instead of primarily focusing on the fear and chaos
of that fateful day. While there were
moments where the terrorists are looked at in a deeper light—specifically when
the fourth terrorist hesitates and is clearly thinking deeply about what he’s
going to do—I still feel as though the movie lacked crucial information by
choosing to focus on the American side primarily.
I do agree that the movie should have done a little background information before the movie actually got to its main point of 9/11. This would have only played into the stereotype that people have against us of only learning things from what we see on the television really. I think that the depiction of the terrorists were pretty different than what I was expecting to see. They were very normal looking. It’s hard to single out a specific group as if they are about to do something bad because we are the U.S. which is the melting pot of societies. When I was watching this movie I thought the same thing of doing more background but this movie was set to describe what happen that day really. I can tell you one thing though, the people who hate the movie the most will have to be everyone that was featured in the movie and the government for reminding people how slow of reaction we had to it. How do you send planes out without missiles? In the movie I truly felt upset about how they actually took over the plane. The pilot should have used the peep hole that was there because the main objective of any flight is not the protection of the passengers; it is not to let the cockpit be breached in any way shape or form. Which didn’t seem too hard in the movie because they just used a cart to hammer through the door (the passengers) to try and take back the cockpit. Before that happen you see the one flying the plane in a true deeper form of deep contemplation. He is the only one that seemed to be shown in a much lighter sense because the others were very anxious and pushy. They also didnt go into much depth on the behind the scenes of the terrorists because they went so in depth on the rest of the scenes of that day. They wouldnt have the time to squeeze them in because Americans lack an attention span that long.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Chad in the points he made starting with the lack of background information on the terrorists. In the movie, the only time we really got to see the lives/background of the terrorists was in the beginning watching them shave and prepare for their future tasks. I think the makers could of focused a little more attention on the motives of the terrorists and their days leading up to the attack. Moreover, the creators of this movie seemed to have a single goal in mind and that was attempting to accurately depict the actions that occurred on flight United 93 and the bravery shown by the passengers. If they wanted to make a movie on the background of the terrorists they could make a lengthy motion picture showing the beginning of the planning process by Al Queda and the terrorist's preparation while in America from gathering supplies and further planning to the flight school that the terrorists trained at. I dont think a movie like that has been created partly because of lack of detail, that we know of, into their lives. What the creators did depict in a well fashioned manor though was the lack of knowledge that our leaders, air traffic control, and our military had during these events. This lack of knowing lead to our leaders procrastinating on the ROE, rules of engagement, for the fighter pilots, launching unequipped F-16's into the air that we now understand were 100 miles away from United 93 before it crashed, and air traffic control saying that it was not flight 11 that hit the first tower 20 minutes after it really did. One can go on and on with examples from the movie. I cant help but ask myself would this lack of assertiveness been apprehended if our president was in the decision making process and not reading to a elementary school children? In addition, I loved what Chad stated about how the main objective of the pilots is to not rely on a stewardesses secret knock, but to see with their own eyes who is at the cockpit door and to be prepared for anything. Watching this movie scrambled my emotions from anger to sadness to resentment of our nations leaders, but left me with a sense of unity and that we as Americans can rise to any occasion with our pride and bravery to handle any situation that comes before us.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with both of you, but I do have to say that the movie is already almost 2 hours long as it is, any extra scenes would take up half the day to watch. Also, the movie was really focused on United Flight 93, we saw no action at all from inside any of the other three planes, and I don't think we would have wanted to. I cried enough just watching that one.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I don't think the terrorist were portrayed as what we thought they were. I thought they'd be wearing different clothing and look or act differently, but they just seemed like they were regular passengers. Another thing about the terrorist is that they didn't seem very prepared for the situation. They kind of knew what they were going to do but they weren't ready for their plan to backfire the way it did.
The way the story was told from the view of the ground and flight controllers, also kind of made Americans look bad. I felt like they cared but they didn't put anything into action. And whenever they tried, it would be a total fail, like what Chad said, “How do you send planes out without missiles?" It just looked bad.
An astute post, which shows one of the limitations of UNITED 93; it plays into predetermined ideas of what motivated the terrorists (their religion, heard in breathy speech at the beginning of the film). Though it is also true, as some of you have noted here, that the depiction of the terrorists during that day also has nuance and complexity (not a lot, mind you, but given the film's goal, at least somewhat).
ReplyDeleteI completely disagree. The creators of United 93 were and are under no obligation to delve into the villain's back story or anything else. Would it be nice to know what their motivation was? Yes, but the primary goal of any piece of entertainment is to entertain. The creators saw that, and so close in time to the events they knew that back story would not be conductive to the most entertainment and therefore most profits. They had very different goals from say Elshtain or The 9/11 Report whose purposes were to educate on and consider the subject of 9/11 more deeply. This is a fictionalized account of the events that day after all.
ReplyDeleteAlso I take note that people don't want to know the reasons behind the events that day because it makes people in the middle east easier to send people to kill. I can't count how many times I'd seen in the news that we had bombed a house with little children in it or civilians had been killed only to have a family member say "they're all terrorists" or "they're only terrorists over there!"