Thoughts on September 11

As a native New Yorker, it’s interesting to see how September 11^th has changed as we move farther and farther away from the attacks. This year the film Man on Wire comes out and it has to be the first film I can remember that features the Twin Towers in a non-9/11 context since the attacks. There have not been any protests or think pieces about whether it is too soon to be discussing the towers but as the premiere to the film nears I could very well turn out to be wrong about the lack of interest the film’s main supporting character garner. I’m also curious to see how long it will take for jokes about September 11^th to make it mainstream. The most mainstream joke about 9/11 is how Rudy Giuliani has been the only person to benefit from the attacks and how he remains the tragedies chief exploiter. But in terms of jokes about the events of that day and not the scumbag who profited off it, Ted 2 is one of the few films (feel free to correct me in the comments…like that’s ever happened) that had a few jokes on the attacks, particularly in the scene when Ted and John yell out suggestions at the improv (Seth McFarlane has made a few 9/11 jokes in Family Guy as well). How long does it take tragedy to turn into comedy because as Alan Alda said in Crimes and Misdemeanors, “comedy is tragedy plus time’). It took around 40 years for Pearl Harbor to be made fun of when Spielberg made 1941. Hell, I’ve even seen a Pearl Harbor parody in Malcolm in the Middle. Holocaust jokes have been around for a while and the movie A Lighter Side of the Holocuast aka Life is Beautiful won critical acclaim. There have been countless Lincoln assassination jokes and the inspiring Helen Keller may be better known for the ways her parents supposedly punished her than for what she actually did in real life. It’ll be interesting to see when this happens to September 11^th. My guess is probably while we’re all still recovering from the latest tragedy to hit this country.

We as a nation will never forget 9/11 but I think the better thing to ask is did we learn anything in the aftermath. Look at what’s happened to this place after the attacks. The Patriot act. The endless Middle-eastern wars. Poor health benefits for first responders. Constant fear. Illegal wiretaps and excessive spying and the fact that most people (including myself) don’t really care as much as they should. We’ve given in to a culture of fear and military jingoism quicker than your average fascist state. We still have politicians clamoring for more middle-east wars because the first time went so well. We’re all drummed up about terrorist attacks and groups like Isis when we forget that a more pressing danger is the rate at which we’re killing the planet. Our military takes up 18% of our budget will education takes up 2% (http://www.cbpp.org/research/policy-basics-where-do-our-federal-tax-dollars-go). We spend more on defense than the next 7 countries combined (http://pgpf.org/Chart-Archive/0053_defense-comparison). Imagine if we spent that money differently. Imagine if we invested in education, infrastructure, welfare programs, or even something like keeping our natural parks pristine rather than using it to fight a concept. You can’t win a physical war against a concept or idea. A gun will not destroy the idea of extreme fundamentalism. Especially when half the strategy involves arming “moderate” rebels who eventually will turn against us. September 11 was a seismic change for the nation and as the years after the attack have told, it wasn’t for the better.