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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

9/11

38 replies

Thistoastsucks · 10/09/2021 07:11

Apologies if there's already been a thread on this.

AIBU to find the adverts promising "full coverage" of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks distasteful?

Full coverage of what exactly? Footage of what happened resulting in the deaths of all those innocent people? Yes, sounds like wonderful can't-miss telly.

Of course I feel that we should remember what happened but advertising full coverage from 5am on the morning of the day just doesn't sit right with me. I feel sorry for people who were personally affected seeing snapshots of footage appearing on their screens without warning.

It's being advertised as though it's a spectacle, like a sporting event.

OP posts:

Riddo · 10/09/2021 07:13

YANBU I remember seeing it live at the time which was horrendous and I had no personal connection to it at all.

Whinge · 10/09/2021 07:20

YANBU. It seems so distasteful. Are we going to get a blow by blow account of when everything happend, footage of people jumping to their deaths, the buildings collapsing?

Of course it's important to remeber, but you can do that without broadcasting the horrific events.

takehomepay · 10/09/2021 07:21

I’m wondering if there will be full coverage of the 20 year anniversary of the war on Afghanistan.

OwlinaTree · 10/09/2021 07:21

Yes, there's a line to be drawn isn't there?

Scarling · 10/09/2021 07:22

I'm assuming Biden will be doing some kind of event and that's what they're referring to?

Odisia · 10/09/2021 07:23

I agree. It should be a day for quiet reflection. It wasn't a disaster movie, these were real people who were loved and are missed.

Scarling · 10/09/2021 07:23

Much like we'd advertise full coverage of memorial day here

fingerbuffet · 10/09/2021 07:23

@takehomepay

I’m wondering if there will be full coverage of the 20 year anniversary of the war on Afghanistan.

3 replies in. well done

takehomepay · 10/09/2021 07:25

@fingerbuffet do you actually have a point?

Original poster

Thistoastsucks · 10/09/2021 07:39

@Scarling

I'm assuming Biden will be doing some kind of event and that's what they're referring to?

Unfortunately it seems as though sky news are just planning to show lots of footage of the towers falling and emergency services rushing into the dust.

Airing a memorial service would be appropriate and I'd support that but I think the TV channels are more interested in rehashing the 'drama' of what happened on the day with little care for how recent the events actually are. In the grand scheme of things, 20 years isn't that long ago.

OP posts:

sashh · 10/09/2021 07:50

I've not seen the adverts.

I think it depends how it is done. There are a lot of adults who do not remember the events and many of them believe the various conspiracies.

All the documentaries, good and bad, show a smooth unravelling, none portray the confusion of the day.

Whinge · 10/09/2021 07:53

All the documentaries, good and bad, show a smooth unravelling, none portray the confusion of the day.

A smooth unravelling? I've seen a few of the documentaries over the years and many show the chaos and fear of the day. The Naudet documentary is especially harrowing.

stuffnthings · 10/09/2021 07:56

Turning Point - 9/11 and the War On Terror on Netflix does a reasonable job of covering the last 20 years and it's fairly well balanced I think.

Aprilinspringtimeshower · 10/09/2021 07:57

Controversial POV here, but I don’t entirely disagree with you around detailed footage
We do have a need to not forget 9/11 and it’s background and subsequent actions in terms of terrorism and the war in exactly the same way as we need to remember the world wars and Holocaust
I personally find it distasteful to remember the Holocaust by visiting museums showing photos, or even actual concentration camps…but sometimes that guttural , in your face, exposure is a salient reminder, or in the case of newer generations rams home the point about extremism, genocide, terrorism etc. In a way that reading about it would never have,
My sons were toddlers at time of 9/11. They never saw those harrowing images at the time. That could lead to minimising, even more conspiracy theories etc if it wasn’t for remembrance broadcasting.
I did watch the recent documentary on Bush and whitehouse response, and was actually finding out a lot more around why it led to the war on Afghanistan so quickly - I’d never seen the footage for instance of the chanting firefighters. It did give me insight, although not conceding, with why the response was what it was by the USA.

stuffnthings · 10/09/2021 07:57

i.e. doesn't just focus on 9/11, but also looks at the impact and fallout of that day, right up until the recent few weeks of the Taliban returning to power.

Aprilinspringtimeshower · 10/09/2021 08:05

I’d also say that in amongst the footage shown recently, was a brief video shot by a bystander, showing the metal pouring out the building and down the side and the actual cracking of the structure in seconds before collapse at that point. You can literally see the point it gives way. I’m not sure how many folks realise the importance of that with regards to conspiracies that a bomb blew up the tower. It clearly shows the exact point that the metal was melting and the tower was buckling in that one corner. I think that is important for people to see that to dispel myths that CIA etc were responsible, bombs etc ( and to ensure that building structures continue to improve)

Akire · 10/09/2021 08:11

I think 20y and then what’s happening in Afghanistan bound to be more in news. I haven’t watched documentaries and don’t want to so easy to avoid. Remember well at time don’t need revisit but plenty younger people never had chance understand it. But I’m glad they stopped showing the plane into building or collapse films.

Annoyedanddissapointed · 10/09/2021 08:18

There will be lots of ceremonies all over, not just 1, interviewes... There will be A LOT. It affected whole world, if course they will be doing full coverage

Original poster

Thistoastsucks · 10/09/2021 08:59

I think it's the term "full coverage" that I've taken exception to. To me, it has connotations of spectacle and something exciting happening in real-time. Obviously this is just how I interpret the phrase though.

OP posts:

Ostryga · 10/09/2021 09:03

It’s history. It should be shown. The programs I have seen are very well done, sympathetic and not glorifying the poor soul’s deaths.

I mean there’s been blockbusters about the towers, did you find those distasteful?

upinaballoon · 10/09/2021 09:17

Sometimes it's the eternal wittering, dramatic, non-stop advertising of the programmes that makes you fed up, rather than the programmes themselves. Programme makers all have their own agendas, so I think it's good for young people, who can't remember it, to ask their parents and grandparents, too, what they were doing at the time and how they got to know about it. It was afternoon here and I was at work, and someone who had access to a radio or tv screen was keeping us informed.

BrilloPaddy · 10/09/2021 09:21

We watched a documentary the other evening, and I still feel the same level of shock and horror 20 years on. It's right to keep reminding us of the power of hatred.

We went to the WTC memorial when in NYC and it's done so so very well. The pools are breathtaking - but I did feel that people stood taking selfies there was horribly disrespectful. It's a graveyard of thousands. I came away feeling really angry about it and we took photos from a distance of the new tower.

Hekatestorch · 10/09/2021 09:21

I would expect full coverage or memorials and events, usually ran by or supported by people directly impacted by it.

Obviously with some clips of footage from the day.

Not just showing all the footage from the day as though it was happening now.

Hekatestorch · 10/09/2021 09:24

@Thistoastsucks

Then you have simply taken exceptiom to yourself.

The term 'full coverage' on its own does not mean that.

You can have full coverage of a war or humanitarian disaster following an earthquake. Non means to exciting or a spectacle

Most news outlets ran full coverage of the pandemic, in 2020. I don't feel that was exciting or a spectacle.

JudgeJ · 10/09/2021 11:58

@Whinge

All the documentaries, good and bad, show a smooth unravelling, none portray the confusion of the day.

A smooth unravelling? I've seen a few of the documentaries over the years and many show the chaos and fear of the day. The Naudet documentary is especially harrowing.

National Geographic channel has had a series of programmes this week covering the day that I found fascinating, very much from the perspective of the people involved. I don't really understand the feelings against the coverage, it was a major historical event that played into current world problems. There is a whole generation who know little about it and are interested. I've never seen objections to programmes about the Holocaust or any toher significant event. Next year is 35 years since Diana died so get ready for the wall to wall coverage.

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