9/11 Remembrance: Should the media avoid the "Falling Man" photo?

[Freyja]

I've been avoiding threads like this all day but I had to coment.

Like mrFDNY, I don't need to see that picture or others like it just to serve as a reminder of that day. I wasn't in Manhattan that day, but my partner was. And the wait for him to finally get home that night was the longest day of our lives. While I waited for Joe, I spent the bulk of the time pacing the apartment, trying to call my friends' numbers to see if they were ok. I was near the screaming point on more than one occasion, if not on the verge of rage, just trying and trying and trying to see who was alright or not.

Joe made it home. We hugged the longest hug we've ever managed, and we cried for an ever longer time. And we were each scarred. He saw the planes hit up close and personal. He saw little things falling from the towers. I learned that my friends weren't ok that day, not even close. Joe sees that picture of the falling man and it brings back what he saw with his own eyes. I look at that picture and wonder who it is and whether I was having a beer with him the Thursday previous, "Is that Mike?"

If you think we need to remember, and I agree wholeheartedly that we do, perhaps we can do something else in order to keep those memories clear. But looking at a picture of one man who went to work that morning on a beatiful crystal clear September morning, only to end it in a moment of absolute and utter heart freezing terror, plummeting through the sky, to smash into the streets of the financial district is not the best way to think back. His life shouldn't be reduced down to one single screen grab.

Want to remember? Then share your stories, hug your loved ones, smile a little, bring some happiness into someone else's life, remember September 11, 2001 as a day that changed all of us.

Beautiful post Rick.

 

[Stitchfans]

No. The media should not avoid anything that happened that day.

I also agree.

 

[budbeerlady]

While the picture is not easy to look at, I dont think it was as near as bad as a documentry I saw on one of the fire houses. I dont remember who (network wise) showed it. It was really, really hard to watch. They went inside the towers to help people with the firefighters, it was bad enough to see the people coming down the steps and the firefighters going up. But the worst part was the noises of people jumping and landing on this lobby type landing thing. It was horrid and I couldnt imagine the circumstances that forced them to jump.


It might have been this one :http://www.amazon.com/11-Filmmakers-Commemorative-Tony-Benatatos/dp/B00006B1HI

It was hard to watch and so is the footage from that day, but if we forget it can happen we let our guard down. So I think they should show it.

 

[MUFFYCAT]

While the picture is not easy to look at, I dont think it was as near as bad as a documentry I saw on one of the fire houses. I dont remember who (network wise) showed it. It was really, really hard to watch. They went inside the towers to help people with the firefighters, it was bad enough to see the people coming down the steps and the firefighters going up. But the worst part was the noises of people jumping and landing on this lobby type landing thing. It was horrid and I couldnt imagine the circumstances that forced them to jump.


It might have been this one :http://www.amazon.com/11-Filmmakers-Commemorative-Tony-Benatatos/dp/B00006B1HI

It was hard to watch and so is the footage from that day, but if we forget it can happen we let our guard down. So I think they should show it.

It was hard to watch some of it. But it was a excellent documentry.

 

[L107ANGEL]

I've been avoiding threads like this all day but I had to coment.

Like mrFDNY, I don't need to see that picture or others like it just to serve as a reminder of that day. I wasn't in Manhattan that day, but my partner was. And the wait for him to finally get home that night was the longest day of our lives. While I waited for Joe, I spent the bulk of the time pacing the apartment, trying to call my friends' numbers to see if they were ok. I was near the screaming point on more than one occasion, if not on the verge of rage, just trying and trying and trying to see who was alright or not.

Joe made it home. We hugged the longest hug we've ever managed, and we cried for an ever longer time. And we were each scarred. He saw the planes hit up close and personal. He saw little things falling from the towers. I learned that my friends weren't ok that day, not even close. Joe sees that picture of the falling man and it brings back what he saw with his own eyes. I look at that picture and wonder who it is and whether I was having a beer with him the Thursday previous, "Is that Mike?"

If you think we need to remember, and I agree wholeheartedly that we do, perhaps we can do something else in order to keep those memories clear. But looking at a picture of one man who went to work that morning on a beatiful crystal clear September morning, only to end it in a moment of absolute and utter heart freezing terror, plummeting through the sky, to smash into the streets of the financial district is not the best way to think back. His life shouldn't be reduced down to one single screen grab.

Want to remember? Then share your stories, hug your loved ones, smile a little, bring some happiness into someone else's life, remember September 11, 2001 as a day that changed all of us.

You never cease to amaze me Rick

 

[gina2000]

I believe the picture should be shown though not necessarily as "the symbol" of 9/11. Anyone remember My Lai? Those pictures were plastered all over Life Magazine and around the world. The outrage was huge. Yet, those pictures have survived to remind us of the senselessness of Vietnam.....unfortunately we still see war as a productive way to change the world.

 

[SplshMtn99]

While the picture is not easy to look at, I dont think it was as near as bad as a documentry I saw on one of the fire houses. I dont remember who (network wise) showed it. It was really, really hard to watch. They went inside the towers to help people with the firefighters, it was bad enough to see the people coming down the steps and the firefighters going up. But the worst part was the noises of people jumping and landing on this lobby type landing thing. It was horrid and I couldnt imagine the circumstances that forced them to jump.


It might have been this one :http://www.amazon.com/11-Filmmakers-Commemorative-Tony-Benatatos/dp/B00006B1HI

It was hard to watch and so is the footage from that day, but if we forget it can happen we let our guard down. So I think they should show it.

Yes, that is the correct documentary. I watched it too. Its the one done by the 2 french film makers who were doing a documentary on a NYC rookie firefighter that day. They followed the firefighters into the WTC & where in the lobby when you could hear the sounds outside.

 

[tedhowe]

Yes, that is the correct documentary. I watched it too. Its the one done by the 2 french film makers who were doing a documentary on a NYC rookie firefighter that day. They followed the firefighters into the WTC & where in the lobby when you could hear the sounds outside.

That is truly a great piece of documentary filmmaking. Jules and Gedeon Naudet came to know and respect the firefighters well before 9/11 during the making of their film and their commradeship with the first responders was evident in how respectful the film was in editing and making palatable the horrors that they saw.

I found it intereting in the Esquire magazine article that is linked from the Wikipedia entry, that the part of the documentary that has the sound of the people hitting the group was apparently significantly edited to reduce its impact.

I understand and respect the opinions of both RickinNYC and mrFDNY. I cannot ever really know what people who live or work in NYC went through that day. The closest I am to anyone (that I'm aware of) who died as a result of the attacks is two degrees of seperation (the brother in law of a former co-worker was one of the pilots of one of the hijacked planes).

I think that my reaction to seeing this photo this morning and the genesis of this thread is specifically regarding those of us who were not there on that day and did not have to witness this in person.

I think we should all try to remember that day - just as we should remember Pearl Harbor or the Holocaust - because it is important to not slip back into the compacency of our pre-9/11 lives.

I was just surprised when it was pointed out to me that this photo was virtually wiped from the collective consciousness after 9/12/01 and I think that that is a shame.

Should it be "the symbol" of 9/11? No, I don't think so. Should it be part of what we remember? Yes. I think it should.

I don't know how to balance the real concerns about feelings of those directly impacted by that day with the need I feel to keep the historical record as complete as possible... perhaps it should not be broadcast and re-printed annually, but the picture should be readily available if people seek it out to try to help understand what happened.

 

[Tinks]

Yes, that is the correct documentary. I watched it too. Its the one done by the 2 french film makers who were doing a documentary on a NYC rookie firefighter that day. They followed the firefighters into the WTC & where in the lobby when you could hear the sounds outside.

This is the best documentary. We saw it on CBS when it was shown (not too long after the actual event). Then we bought it as soon as it came out. It really captured the feel of the day and I wanted to have it for my children so they could fully grasp the 9/11 event and how it changed America.

 

[babieemelly]

I've been avoiding threads like this all day but I had to coment.

Like mrFDNY, I don't need to see that picture or others like it just to serve as a reminder of that day. I wasn't in Manhattan that day, but my partner was. And the wait for him to finally get home that night was the longest day of our lives. While I waited for Joe, I spent the bulk of the time pacing the apartment, trying to call my friends' numbers to see if they were ok. I was near the screaming point on more than one occasion, if not on the verge of rage, just trying and trying and trying to see who was alright or not.

Joe made it home. We hugged the longest hug we've ever managed, and we cried for an ever longer time. And we were each scarred. He saw the planes hit up close and personal. He saw little things falling from the towers. I learned that my friends weren't ok that day, not even close. Joe sees that picture of the falling man and it brings back what he saw with his own eyes. I look at that picture and wonder who it is and whether I was having a beer with him the Thursday previous, "Is that Mike?"

If you think we need to remember, and I agree wholeheartedly that we do, perhaps we can do something else in order to keep those memories clear. But looking at a picture of one man who went to work that morning on a beatiful crystal clear September morning, only to end it in a moment of absolute and utter heart freezing terror, plummeting through the sky, to smash into the streets of the financial district is not the best way to think back. His life shouldn't be reduced down to one single screen grab.

Want to remember? Then share your stories, hug your loved ones, smile a little, bring some happiness into someone else's life, remember September 11, 2001 as a day that changed all of us.

What a great post. I completely agree

 

[SeaSpray]

Would the Holocaust be so horrid to people if we had never seen the piles of bodies or the walking skeletons? Or would it be able to be dismissed by the masses?

This is an EXCELLENT point, and I know that personally I wouldn't have been able to grasp the magnitude of the Holocaust without having seen those pictures.

However, I saw what happened on September 11th, 2001 as it was happening (live on TV, that is), and I have no need to ever see the picture of the "falling man" ever again because I can see it as clearly in my mind as if I was looking at it on a page. I think it does and will serve as a piece of history, just as the Holocaust pictures do.




Like many of you, I avoid watching the news on every September 11th... and I'm surprised that I opened thread and commented on it... My need to avoid the news on this day each year is not a way to ignore what happened or that I forget (are you kidding? forget???), but it's a bit of self protection, I guess...