"The Falling Man"

[Spongebob]

Anyone else see it? On channel 4 last night. Very disturbing. DP and me were in disagreement about whether the identity of the guy should have been investigated and revealed....He says yes it should...I say I no. What do you think?

[biglips]

i watched that too... it was so upsetting.... it was more of a No than a Yes Yes cos they did correct on identifying the man but No cos i didnt agree about revealing his life story in the newspaper,as i thought it was abit too personal!

[Spongebob]

T thought it was pointless to reveal his identity....I mean he died anyway...and the effect on a family knowing your loved one hurled themselves out of the building, and to see it actually happening on video....it would have finished me off I think.

[KBear]

I didn't see the end - I saw up to where the investigator thought it possibly wasn't the Hernandez guy. Did it turn out to be someone else?

I didn't understand in the beginning why Hernandez' family were so upset about him being the "jumper" but then I realised it was about the suicide thing and the belief of "going to hell".

So complicated, not sure if i'm a Yes or a No on this really.

What happened in the end.

Agree, very upsetting and filled me with the same horror I felt on the day.

[Chloe55]

Very emotional to watch, I couldn't even imagine being an onlooker to that event let alone the all the families that were involved. Like Spongebob said, I would have been mortified if my dh/ds/dad was plastered all over the news jumping to his death. Identity would have been better left anonymous I would have said

[RedZuleika]

I really don't get the problem with the 'suicide' idea. It wasn't suicide. They were discussing it on Radio 4 earlier in the week and the programme maker said that these people were being executed and some of them chose the manner of their execution.

I think I'd prefer to think that my loved one jumped rather than burnt.

Very disturbing programme though. And I don't think it was important to find out the identity of 'the falling man'.

[Squarer]

I saw this - I thought it was amazingly moving (read: I had tears streaming down my face the entire program).

In a weird way, I think finding out who it was gave the "falling man" dignity. He doesn't represent the Twin Towers disaster, he was a man who had a life and a name and died tragically - the picture should represent that man. Agree that names should not have been published without the families consent though - but in the end it turned out that the name that was plastered was the wrong one anyway. Surely that has to be journalism at its worst.

I don't recall his sister actually confirming it was him though. She talked around that bit didn't she?

[Spagblog]

The falling people were one of the hardest things for me about the whole disaster. I never thought that it may have been a social stigma to have jumped.

I liked the man who said that his wife must have felt like she was flying having been stuck in a hot smokey atmosphere

[cod]

i gor bored at 10pm
agree ont he horror of the fallign but relaly
wa sinterested itn eh man hwo foudn his wife

[Tinker]

God, it was so long-winded. This was all in the Observer or Indie about 18 months ago.

[Tinker]

Yes, the man who found his wife was moving, can imagine searching the internet myslef in same situation. Suspect some fell or were jostled out rather than jumped.

[cod]

i ahve looked on interent asit relaly haunted me for a year or so

a mad cod

[LadyTophamHatt]

We watched until about 10, it seemed to be going over the same thing over and over until then.

Couldn't handle the images of all those people jumping. It felt almost voyeuristic(sp?) to watch.
Didn't realise the programme was going to identify him, completely un-neccessary IMO.
(but what about all the others...the photographer said he took lots of photos fo people falling)

Certainly brings back all the emotions of the day

[JoolsToo]

we recorded and just watched about half an hour this morning - don't know whether I'll make it to the end

[puddle]

I saw the last half hour of it. I thought it was very moving especially the sister of the man they thought it probably was saying she thought it wasn't important to establish who he was, but that he stands for everyone affected by what happened that day, rather like the tomb of the unknown soldier represents the soldiers in a conflict.

[mommie]

i thought it was v.intelligent tv and very moving. said something about rush-to-judgement journalism "ie, find the falling man and name him even if you get it wrong and upset his 13 year old daughter int he process". also that photo journalism can be hugely deceptive. this idea of him falling in an almost poetic position when the truth was much worse. they almost made it look beautiful when it was anything but. anyway, v thought provoking. has made me ponder a lot on the whole meaning of life thing.

[mommie]

also puddle. entirely agree. the dignity of his sister was truly impressive.

[Saggarmakersbottomknocker]

Missed this. But agree with you Red about it no being suicide. It wasn't a choice between life or death. Sadly they didn't have that luxury.

[bea]

i didn't see it all got up to the bit where KBear watched... so it wasn't hernandez? how did they 'identify' then?

[RedZuleika]

Took me back to the day itself and the horror of watching it live. Amazing that for an event so photographed and filmed, it could become the subject of collective denial (re the jumpers) though.

Btw - who are you Saggarmakersbottomknocker? Have you changed your name and are really someone familiar in disguise?

[hermykne]

bea the windows on the world staff looked at the photos .

[emmawill]

I thought it was really good I can't believe it was 5 years ago this september still remember it like it was yesterday. I thought it was very moving and I think those who jumped were the bravest people as at least their last breath was fresh air and not thick black smoke. I thought that the poor people on the planes should of been mentioned but I guess there was far too many people to talk about in that short space of time.

[Heathcliffscathy]

watched it last night and thought that the most interesting thing was how the 'jumpers' were airbrushed out of all subsequent coverage after the paper that published the photo got loads of negative feedback. think it is obscene and a real indictment of those that hold it that some feel that it is shameful that people as you say chose the method of their death. warped.