Wednesday, September 13, 2006

TV: Is It Too Soon To Aire Docu-Dramas on 9/11?

After the recent spate of movies and TV Movies I think it needs to be said that Americans need to stop obsessing over 9/11. This past Monday marked the fifth year to the day of the World Trade Center bombings, as of course you all know. We have been preparing for this day for months and once it occurred you can turn to any channel on TV and find someone talking ad nauseum about the tragedy. Now before you bite my head off and call me callous and insensitive I want to say that for the people who lost friends and family in the attack, five years is nothing, I have no doubt that it hurts, and nothing that anyone can say can bring those loved ones back. But for the rest of us, mostly the media and politicians, its big headlines. There have been so far a few documentaries two films and now a docu-drama on ABC. The headline for the ABC two-part mini-series is that it is accurate, according to the 9/11 Commission Report. The controversy arose when ABC began showing it to various people mostly Conservative critics and writers. We found out later that the writer was making up scenes to heighten the drama. Now normally in dramas even some historical ones this is a part of making a film more provocative. I don't always agree with this process because I think when you are telling a story about history through narrative then you must be as accurate as possible when depicting real people. I would say even more so when the event you are depicting happened only five years ago. When it comes to September 11 the history books are not closed yet. There is still controversy and because of partisan bickering between Democrats and Republicans there are vast differences in how the event actually happened.

So I ask you dear reader, what do you think? Do you think ABC was out of line? Did you watch the movie what did you think? I recorded it on my DVR but I as yet have not had time to watch it in full. Just a few minutes of the beginning. Although I have been following it as they have shown the most controversial clips on TV. Apparently the film revolves around Richard Clarke, former Counter terrorism czar, he has come out saying there are scenes in the film that did not happen or are incorrect. I think we have all politicized 9/11 enough; it's time to move on with our lives.

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