CLOVERFIELD and 9/11 imagery- Page 5

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 1/9/08 at 10:42pm

shouldn't you be searching for a community theatre production of south park: the musical in need of a timmy.

and see there's the difference between you and me, i wouldn't know what a rob zombie script sounded like if liverpool read it to me. so enjoy those bon mots.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 1/9/08 at 10:50pm

you must have worn yourself out coming up with that one.

you should rent The Devil's Rejects. you have somehow morphed into one of them.

[robbiej]

Posted: 1/10/08 at 10:15am

"And, I LOVE you, robbie, but I don't think it's accurate to act like we all sat safely outside nyc watching our tvs while nyc (and DC and PA) dealt with that day."

Actually I didn't act like that. But...it is, in hindsight, accurate. You did sit safely outside of the affected areas. But you didn't know that. And so the fear, of course, was palpable. And real. And yours. I would never make any judgement calls on anyone's response to that day. And I do not think my response is 'better'. In any way. But it is 'different'. And I don't think people appreciate that. It's difficult to put into words without it becoming reductive...or without it sounding like I'm saying 'my day was worse than yours.' I know it sounds like that sometimes and I know that's my limitation.

But there IS a difference to our experience. Just as there is a difference in my experience of the day compared to my friend Steve who, if he had not been late to work, would have been dead. No question. Everyone in his company died that day. And he got out of the subway late and looked up at the building and knew that they were all gone...and that he would have been as well. I have no idea what that's like. I can try to imagine...but...I have no idea. I don't think people say that enough. Every time someone I know goes through something traumatic, I try to find a common exponent so that I can relate and empathize. But, in the end, that just reduces that other person's experience. It's theirs...not mine. I want them to know they're not alone. But my way of doing it...saying, 'I understand because...' is just not a good way. I'm trying to get better at saying, 'I don't know what your going through...but if I can help, I'm here.' I don't always succeed.

The thing about the poster and the trailer that bothers me is not just the imagery. It's what that imagery calls up. For me, though I was in midtown, that day was very tactile. I (and every New Yorker) can attempt to describe the smell of the combo of crushed concrete, broken and burning steel and other things I don't want to type. So not only do all the images that we all shared that day come flooding into my mind...so does the memory of that smell that lingered for a very long time.

That's why it doesn't sit with...well me. And apparently others. My boyfriend is not in the least bothered by it. That's his reaction. And he wants to see it. I told him, by all means...but I will probably not be going with you.

Updated On: 1/10/08 at 10:15 AM

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 1/10/08 at 10:41am

I never thought about like that, but now that you bring up excellent points, it does.

robbiej: Your post broke my heart.

[robbiej]

Posted: 1/10/08 at 10:49am

Well, Clumsy Dude, I certainly didn't mean to break your heart...but I'm glad you got what I was trying (with too many words) to say.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 1/10/08 at 1:03pm

My problem isn't that 9/11 imagery is being used...and again, it is being used according to the director,...it's why it's being used.
Making a movie about Pearl Harbor shorlty after the attack is different. They were making a movie ABOUT Pearl Harbor.
Here 9/11 imagery is being used to sell tickets to a monster movie...not to make any statement about what happened on that day.
Again, horror movies making use of the fears of the day is nothing new. And I have no problem with that...in fact I think it can be a carthatic way to deal with people's fear.
But there is nothing subtle here. And my problem is the way very specific imagery of that day is being used for a monster movie.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/10/08 at 1:06pm

"Here 9/11 imagery is being used to sell tickets"

Again, there's no copyright on an image. All of this talk about 9/11 imagery is pointless to me. Go back and look at ANY disater movie set in New York BEFORE 9/11 and the looks are all the same.

That's just what it looks like.

[Liverpool]

Posted: 1/10/08 at 1:08pm

thank you diva. People are just getting upset because they feel they are entitled to. it's pointless and silly.

[nitsua]

Posted: 1/10/08 at 1:10pm

Ya know, arguing and complaining doesn't do anything.
The producers obviously okayed everything, or the movie wouldn't have been made in the first place.
If you want to blame someone, blame the producers, not the director.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/10/08 at 1:11pm

You're welcom LP.

But I'm still mad at you for saying Hillary cried.

[Pippin]

Posted: 1/10/08 at 1:11pm

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/10/08 at 1:12pm

BINGO!

[nitsua]

Posted: 1/10/08 at 1:13pm

Do you think the French would've given us another Statue if it was destroyed in 9/1l?

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 1/10/08 at 1:14pm

I'm not sure what point the Escape From New York Poster is making. Cause that looks nothing like 9/11.

The image from the poster that Papa posted earlier looks exactly like the view at had standing across from the WTC on the Hudson River in Jersey City that day. Exactly...minus the headless Statue of Liberty.

[nitsua]

Posted: 1/10/08 at 1:16pm

It doesn't have to make a point.
Just because a real attack on NYC happened doesn't mean people have to stop writing fictional stories about it.

[Pippin]

Posted: 1/10/08 at 1:17pm

from Independence day

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 1/10/08 at 1:17pm

"Just because a real attack on NYC happened doesn't mean people have to stop writing fictional stories about it."
Who said it does?

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 1/10/08 at 1:18pm

The difference for me is that in usual disaster/action movies, the money shot is the stuff blowing up and being destroyed in extreme pornographic close up for maximum special FX boom. That's all fine and good and par for the course and really what people see those kind of movies for.

Here we see the big explosion happening a mile away with the terror coming more from people's shocked reactions....kind of like news footage of 9/11. The handheld video angle (ripped from BLAIR WITCH and CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST) is specifically designed to give a "you are there" feel to the proceedings, also rather like news footage of that day.

The director himself stated that he wanted to draw parallels to the event which to me is a little tasteless for a rollercoaster monster movie. Obviously, for some its quite subtle enough but for others it ain't. I'll be anxious to hear what people think when they see the movie.

And no, Liverspot, people are not getting upset...we are having an adult discussion. Maybe you should sit this one out.

Updated On: 1/10/08 at 01:18 PM

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/10/08 at 1:19pm

I'm just going to re-post this:

If the image of New Yorkers looking up and saying, "Oh, No!" is disturbing to you, then YOU have to do something about that.

I am responsible for how I react to things. I don't blame the other person for making me feel the way I do.

[nitsua]

Posted: 1/10/08 at 1:22pm

"Just because a real attack on NYC happened doesn't mean people have to stop writing fictional stories about it."

"Who said it does?"

Um, you? You're the one who's against this movie because it uses imagery based on 9/11. It's a disaster movie set in NYC. What else is it going to do?

[Pippin]

Posted: 1/10/08 at 1:23pm

armageddon

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 1/10/08 at 1:23pm

Who's blaming anyone for anything?
All I'm doing is voicing my opinion about using 9/11 imagery to sell tickets to a popcorn monster movie. I'm not saying they had no right to make it or that the adds should be pulled. I just think it's cheap and tasteless and I won't be spending my money on the movie.
It being released in January with out critic screenings isn't a good sign anyway.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 1/10/08 at 1:31pm

Or, perhaps, the point is that in these artists' minds, 9/11 changed things. It changed the way people even look at disaster films. This could be an honest, sincere reaction to it.

Perhaps seeing the film will make the advertising seem less callous. Perhaps the film holds substance.

It certainly has gotten us talking.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/10/08 at 1:35pm

"I just think it's cheap and tasteless and I won't be spending my money on the movie."


That'll show em.

[Liverpool]

Posted: 1/10/08 at 1:44pm

DId you even read the thread borstal? PEOPLE ARE GETTING UPSET. your opening post clearly came from a place of frustration and a little bit of anger.

this post form auggie is clearly from someone that is upset

"Thanks, Borstal, I got 9/11 INSTANTLY. By the 3rd viewing, I was pissed off. It's kind of the Rudy Guiliani of films, exploiting 9/11 while pretending it's about something else, you know, folks, just some sci-fi fun. Watch NY implode, explode and otherwise fall to ruin! But not the way it really happens, sillies! I'm a New Yorker, I was there on 9/11, and I remember being told such imagery would likely disppear from American films forever.

I guess if this movie wasn't made, the terrorists win, huh?"

n69n is clearly agitated

"i get it & it bugs the hell outta me.
& i got the same thing from the will smith trailers."

erikj has repeatedly shown anger

"They are using 9/11 imagery. The director of the movie has said so. He compares it to movies of the 50's (like Invasion of the Body Snatchers) using the fears of the cold war to scare people.
I saw an extended sequence online where people are running from the debris of a collapsed building that looks like it was taken straight from a newsreel of 9/11.
I have no problem with horror movies taking the fears of the day and using them to scare people. My problem with this movie is how SPECIFIC the images are. It's not alluding to anything...it's using very specific images to scare people. And I think it's cheap."

and his most recent post.


so borstal before you get all bitchy and tell me to stay out of the conversation, know what the hell you're talking about please