Statement From 9/11 Families Regarding the Media’s Portrayal of 9/11

[kpete]

September 7, 2006
FOS11 Statement Regarding the Media’s Portrayal of 9/11

As we mark five years since 9/11, we are inundated with the media’s portrayal of that tragic day. Television miniseries, Hollywood films, comic books and countless “documentaries” are dramatizing and sometimes distorting the events leading up to and happening on 9/11.

Families of September 11 believes the best way to honor those who were lost is to make sure that what happened to them never happens again. As such, we must understand exactly what took place, and not allow “entertainers” to promote misleading or incorrect information as fact to the public.

If we do not learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it. Any depiction of 9/11 that is not accurate and factual propagates myths, myths that may cause us future harm.

In order to make our country safer and more secure, we owe it to those who were lost to acknowledge that which took place, so that we can ensure it never happens again.

http://www.familiesofseptember11.org/include/viewfile.asp?vfile=../..%2fdocs%2fFOS11+Statement+9-7-06+Media+Portrayal+of+9-11.pdf
http://www.familiesofseptember11.org/news.aspx?s=5#2260

[Roxy66]

1. Cant find the link n/t

[kpete]

2. It is a PDF

try this one http://www.familiesofseptember11.org/news.aspx?s=5#2260

or Kos has it as well:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/9/7/141041/6141

[civildisoBDence]

3. God bless all the victims and their families

We're all on the same side here.

But, I think we have to be realistic and accept the fact that writers, filmmakers, and the like are entitled to their own interpretations of events. Also, myths can be positive, and those myths with the most positive uses are the ones that generally last.

Instead of trying to control what is and isn't allowed to reach the public, it might be more effective to leave that to artists and gatekeepers in the media--then put all our support behind what we feel is most positive and ignore what we feel is most negative.

Let the cream rise to the top--the crap will sink of its own accord.

Satire as thick as a president's skull

[RangerSmith]

4. very well said... n/t

[EstimatedProphet]

6. No, they're not

But, I think we have to be realistic and accept the fact that writers, filmmakers, and the like are entitled to their own interpretations of events.

People are not entitled to their own version of the facts. They may have them, but they are supposed to correct themselves when they find out they are wrong. This is true of everyone.

[redqueen]

10. Exactly. Interpretation? Fine. Lies? Not so much.

I love how the debate is muddied by terms like "fictionalized accounts" and "composite scenes". These terms do not mean that anyone involved is given a free pass to change history by skewing or flat-out lying about substantive details. All that crap means is you get to change little things that don't have any real bearing on the picture as a whole.

Once you start trying to include a message like... oh I don't know, how about ? yeah I think that one works as an example... once you start pusthing a 'message' like that, you've moved from 'fictionalized accounts' to 'right-wing lies that we hope will help replubliCONs this fall.'

:nuke:

[EFerrari]

16. They can't claim this is based on the commission's report AND

that it is fiction. It's one or the other.

Okay, it can also be b#llshit. That would be the third choice. :)

[hippiechick]

18. Exactly.

Thank you! :hi:

[EFerrari]

19. Stop the spin, I want to get off!

lol

:hi:

[EFerrari]

15. Right on! There is a very wide chasm between expression

and PROPAGANDA AIMED TO MANIPULATE AN ELECTION.

That's why we call some people "artists" and some people "criminals".

[DeeDeeNY]

8. There is a danger in this

because this is not an artistic "interpretation" but rather claims to be a "docudrama", which is enough of a play on the word documentary to be misleading as to how much is truth. To totally misrepresent events and then claim it's based in part on the 9/11 commission's report is to try and rewrite history.
In today's climate, where so many people are misinformed because our media are more concerned with who killed Jonbenet than what is going on with our national government, this will be taken as "proof" by too many people that 9/11 can now legitimately be blamed on the Clinton administration. I have seen enough letters to the editor in my local newspaper from people who are already so seriously misinformed that it is scary.

[Felinity]

12. Not when they are going to teach fabrications to schoolchildren

I am sure that under other circumstances your suggestion may work. But do you happen to remember when Kerry chose to rise above the Swiftboating slurs?

I do. Ship sunk.

[KnaveRupe]

20. If this were clearly labelled as complete fiction, that might be true.

Certainly, artistic license was taken by Anthony Hopkins for his portrayal of Nixon, or by Oliver Stone when he made "JFK". THAT'S not at issue here.

What IS at issue here is the way this film is being presented as a "docu-drama". The filmmakers attempted to blur the line between truth and fiction, and to do so in a blatantly partisan manner. That's not art, that's propaganda.

Put it this way: If Michael Moore had hired an actor to re-create the scene of Bush reading "My Pet Goat", and had made it seem like Bush had sat there for 2 hours without moving, then that would be wrong. Moore used archival footage, and had to defend the facts in his film.

This crap, however, is deliberately defamatory and, as such, is not protected IMHO. If ABC had pulled out their notes and defended everything in the film as factual, then we'd have a fight. By admitting that liberties were taken, they've basically 'fessed up to a hatchet job.

[Bridget Burke]

21. Is "myths with the most positive uses are the ones that generally last".

another way of saying "the victors write history?"

Yes, artists will interpret events differently. But a "docudrama" filled with lies, run without commercials so close to an election, is a bit different than a performance artist's piece on 9/11.

The ABC crapfest should not be allowed to reach the public without complaint. We need to ensure that the truth gets out--through the media & through personal communication.

[Time for change]

5. Good for them!

[Fiendish Thingy]

7. Now we're talking! Shame them into decency!`

If ABC doesn't pull this docuganda now, it's not because they don't care about upsetting Clinton supporters, it's because they don't respect the memory of those lost on that tragic day...

Let's hope everyone else (MoveOn, Dems, etc) gets "on message" with this...

[wiley]

13. How much "respect" has ever been shown by the Republican exploitation

of 9/11? By the way, take a look at the actors in this show. Some are pretty well known Republican hacks themselves. Guess this was also a great Disney sponsored "slush fund" for them as well. How many spoke at the last RNC convention?

[renate]

9. OT: can I just say, YAY FOR KPETE!!!

You are absolutely tireless in finding these news items for us, day after day after day.

:yourock:

THANK YOU! :party:

[EFerrari]

17. Seconded. THANKS, KPETE!

:yourock: :yourock: :yourock:

[City Lights]

11. Good for them!

If it weren't for them, there wouldn't have been a 9-11 Commission.

Wonder if ABC's little fantasy film that is supposedly based on the 9-11 Commission Report will spell out how hard Little Queenie fought to keep the commission from forming, and if they'll spell out that Little Queenie REFUSED to "speak" (remember - Little Queenie said presidunces don't testify) before the commission unless he was allowed to bring Unka Dick to help him answer the questions.

[19jet54]

14. Boycott the show?

While I respect the families & hero's of 9/11, turning everything into a memorial is living in the past a bit too much for me. I believe we are to learn from the past and work for the future. The Postal Workers & newsmen of Anthrax, New York victims of 9/11 and New Orleans all need our help. This ABC mini series on 9/11 is nothing more than a political drama to boost the GOP image for the fall election by finger pointing at someone else. Shame on them!

I worked for the government as a Y2K expert under the Clinton era. We had two focuses with the computer issues and with the terrorist plans to attack at the same time. The days after Y2K were peaceful until 'W' hardliners took charge and fired or pushed out anyone who was not a GOP faithful servant. With that, the terrorist attacked on 9/11 as our guard was down. There is an old government saying "it didn't happen on my watch"; well I'm sorry but 9/11 happened on 'W's watch and no amount of lies or finger pointing can change that!

ABC plans on viewers watching; the sponsors plan on selling their products thru commercials; so DO NOT give them what they want: BOYCOTT the show and send a clear message that November is the era of change. No more lies, no more finger pointing, no more war killings, no more dead children of America in Iraq combat, no more secrets of the GOP, no more illegal wire taps and most importantly, let's get back to a balance of power in our government.

[MissWaverly]

22. everyone involved in anything regarding 9-11 must respect them

We must always consider the feelings of those people and the sacrifices made that day. This is not a republican/democrat thing, everyone who died that day deserves our respect.

As another anniversary rolls around, I hope that our democratic senators will be successful
in preventing a media mockery of what happened that day. America is better than that,
this is not the America I know that would take someone's suffering and turn it into a cheap
political advantage. I can't imagine Jimmy Carter or JFK doing anything like that.

[peacetalksforall]

23. There is so much in this thread, don't know where to start.

I already kicked and recommended.

About the boycott.

I don't think I will boycott it (if it's not pulled first). I plan to study the Will Pitt fact sheets and find the fiction for myself so I can argue it. I may do just as well reading DU, but in either case I am paying attention to it. If I study it I will remember and defend the fact from the fiction for a longer period of time.

I was really more upset about the Scholastic harm than the tv movie. Though they pulled out, I believe material has alread been released. At least additional printings or cuts can't be printed legally.

I am extremely concerned about this film being seen on cable and satellite for ever more. In fact, I am concerned that these USSR style propagandists will clean up the film for this weekend, then present the original version for cable and satellite ad infinitum.

I don't think boycotting this weekend will make much of a difference since their won't be commercials. The mission is to real protest Disney and ABC and FIND OUT WHO FUNDED AND AUTHORIZED THIS S C E M E. Which slush fund did this come out of - was it the Florida Teachers Pension that got hit when Enron committed their crimes? Is the money from the missing funds at DOD? Did a single benefactor do this - the friendly Prince from Saudi Arabia, the Whitwater benefactor? Did Mehlman or Gingrich act as a middleman? Did friend Rove sell it to Cheney and he approved?

In other words, we need to research, fact find, target, and protest whether cleaned up or not. The side point work is in educating people and explaining with examples why this is such a big deal. More on that separately.