United 93
Well, it's been five years! Time to get out the shovel and go grave-digging!
If you're thinking of going to the movies this weekend, allow me to plead with you that you do not go see United 93. To be honest, it isn't that I am so offended by the timeframe. I was making jokes about 9.11 as early as 11:15 AM on the day of, and I still haven't let up. What truly bothers me is the blatantly fickle-hearted American public.
Jokes and satire are one thing. Truly, they are two of the only healthy ways to deal with such a shocking tragedy. Ask an Israeli if you have any other choice but to laugh once in awhile. It isn't that there is anything funny about these events, but that humans just aren't built for them. We don't really have a way to cope.
"It's okay Martha, they just ran out of peanuts."
But what does rub me the wrong way is that the same people who once treated this like the tragedy to end all tragedies (and let's be perfectly clear on this point: it wasn't) are now hailing this movie as "important" and "inspiring." I am sure that Bob and Harvey will no doubt trot out some 9.11 victims who will swear by how much we "need" this movie right now, but I assure you, we don't.
Mining these events for laughs or for honest news (increasingly an oxymoron) is one thing, but turning it into Hollywood Roman-a-clef for fun and profit is entriely another.
Mostly, I'm asking you to not see this movie for yourself. Send a message that this is not the kind of entertainment you want. Salvage some of our collective dignity and go see one of the movies that seem to come out every couple of weeks based on a comic book.
"Fifteen bucks for an 8 oz Heineken? I'm gonna crash this fucking plane!"
1 comment:
The part that amuses me: Predictably, every critic out there says "This film is outstanding!"
An interesting note in the chicago tribune review of United 93 contrasts it to A&E's Flight 93, which is re-airing this week for "good measure," and apparently sappy, trite, and terrible. The reviewer feels United is quite the opposite -- direct, to the point, and honest.
I still won't see it, but it's an interesting note.
Also, coming now to a Safeway near you (or at least near me) is Coke Blak. I didn't try it, though, as it was available in 4-packs for like 6 bucks. Too bad it's priced to compete with those mini-frappucinos and energy drinks, and not regular diet cokes. Still, at $1.49 each or something, it's not awful from a convenience store perspective. I know I buy too many $1.75 coffees.
Finally, my verification word for today is "oofdwur." What kind of strage onomatopoeia is that?
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