Are We Ready?
From Newsweek by way of MSNBC:
If movie trailers are supposed to cause a reaction, the preview for “United 93” more than succeeds. Featuring no voice-over and no famous actors, it begins with images of a beautiful morning and passengers boarding an airplane. It takes you a minute to realize what the movie’s even about. That’s when a plane hits the World Trade Center. The effect is visceral. When the trailer played before “Inside Man” last week at the famed Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, audience members began calling out, “Too soon!” In New York City, where 9/11 remains an open wound, the response was even more dramatic. The AMC Loews theater on Manhattan’s Upper West Side took the rare step of pulling the trailer from its screens after several complaints. “One lady was crying,” says one of the theater’s managers, Kevin Adjodha. “She was saying we shouldn’t have [played the trailer]. That this was wrong … I don’t think people are ready for this.”
Is it too soon? Are we ready? I think that is up to each individual, but I can’t fault either the filmmakers or the people who are not prepared to see this.
I personally think that it important to remember what happened, and a lot of folks have forgotten. Never mind debates about OEF, OIF, the Patriot Act, or whatever. I think everyone just needs to remember what happened that day, and never forget.
The trailer itself can be seen here.
I saw the trailer last week in the theater, and I found it very moving, but in one place, disturbing. At the end, they have the following words show up on the screen: “On the day we faced fear…we also found courage”. Upon my first viewing, I thought that somehow implied that what the courageous folks did on Flight 93 meant that somehow we (the American people) were courageous, and it pissed me off good. We weren’t heroes. The people on board that flight who did what they had to do were heroes. Upon a second viewing, I think it means we looked for and found courage during the course of the events, rather than internally. I hope thats what it means, but maybe they should change it anyway.
The Corcoran Brothers 
I just saw something on the History Channel the other day that was called, “Grounded on 9/11”. It told the story of air traffic controllers and their struggle to land all planes in the US on 9/11. I was amazed to see how they tackled a task that was as amazingly huge and complex as safely landing all the planes in the US with no plan or rulebook. They followed the trip of United 93 and it really inspired me to find out more about the people onboard that fateful flight. I do think you are right that it may be too soon for some people to see this film but part of me thinks that it is time for us to be reminded of what happened. I think alot of people have forgotten how horrifying that day was, and how extrodinary those people were on that flight. We’ll never know how many people they saved by fighting back. I found this site that gives a biography of everyone on that flight and I hope you don’t mind if I share it here:
http://www.unitedheroes.com/whotheywere.html
I’m going to see the film when it comes out. I know I’ve grown too comfortable in my everyday life and could use a reminder of what happened.