911 - Falling Man

[Neil]

i remember the first time i saw this film i was literally moved to tears...and i'm not exactly the emotional and sappy type whatsoever.... I recall a particular line from the program when they talked about these jumpers... "individuals who lonely ten second journeys"... And another something like "a very public way of dying...

[MikePizzoff]

Now I've heard that you'd black out before you actually reach the ground, so surely that'd be the way to go? "They" just say that so the public isn't horrified by pictures/footage of people falling during the attacks on 9-11-01. They want people to think "Oh, those bodies hurling through the air aren't people screaming and crying... they're at peace and tranquil!" BULLSHIT. Aside from the picture Neil posted, I'd say just about all of the people that decided (were forced to) jump were probably completely terrified the whole way down. It's truly sad and terrifying to think about.

[Neil]

I think they suggested about 300 people jump/fell...

[MinionZombie]

A bit odd really - because what else do people think they were doing before they decided to jump? They weren't sat there having a cup of tea for crying out loud - we've heard the phone calls, people were stricken (rightly so) with horror. I see the people jumping as at least a little something they clawed back - a tiny decision they were able to make for themselves before their life prematurely ended. ... What actually creeps me out is the sound of the bodies hitting the ground on the documentary footage (e.g. that film by the French brothers called simply 9/11) and the people not knowing what it is, and then later finding out. That is creepy. But again, at least the people's deaths would be instantaneous at that point. Chilling stuff. I've still got a bunch of newspapers from September 12th, I specifically saved them for future perusal years later. Crazy, crazy stuff. I remember September 12th in our sixth form was a sombre day with us all huddled around newspapers and TV screens just trying to figure it out, and occasionally heading off to sombre classes. On September 11th, it was about mid afternoon here in the UK 'cos of the time difference, and a girl came in and said "a plane just went into the twin towers" - with a puzzled expression - and having just heard it, we all thought it was like the time that plane went into the Empire State Building. Then I got picked up from school and walked in as a replay of one of the towers falling was showing, and immediately knew that this was something very different. But weirdly, it doesn't sink in at all at that time, it almost feels *normal* ... not sure how to explain it ... like when 7/7 happened in the UK, I was flicking through the channels, saw some clips on the news, and skipped right on by them and didn't think anything of it really (just goes to show you about the density of 24 hour news eh?) Then of course your mind gets it's head straight and it all becomes very real and very fucked up.

[Tricky]

Then of course came the huge gearing up of the military within weeks of this happening, and the internet was full of those posters of the twin towers as an "up yours" gesture or "peace through superior firepower" ones, at that time there was very few people against the war when the US army & british SAS were storming across afghanistan aided by the northern alliance (whatever happenbed to them?), now 8 years on soldiers & civilians alike are still dying in their hundreds as a result of the 9/11 attacks in a war the west doesnt know how to win & has lost sight of its objectives

[MinionZombie]

Then of course came the huge gearing up of the military within weeks of this happening, and the internet was full of those posters of the twin towers as an "up yours" gesture or "peace through superior firepower" ones, at that time there was very few people against the war when the US army & british SAS were storming across afghanistan aided by the northern alliance (whatever happenbed to them?), now 8 years on soldiers & civilians alike are still dying in their hundreds as a result of the 9/11 attacks in a war the west doesnt know how to win & has lost sight of its objectives Yep ... sums it up pretty well ... *sigh*

[SymphonicX]

Hmm, I thought The Falling Man documentary was opportunist, invasive and sensationalist....I felt no need to discover the families of this man that killed himself much less put other families through grief by highlighting their dead relatives as potentially being this man. It was unnecessary.

[Neil]

Hmm, I thought The Falling Man documentary was opportunist, invasive and sensationalist....I felt no need to discover the families of this man that killed himself much less put other families through grief by highlighting their dead relatives as potentially being this man. It was unnecessary. I found it very interesting... And don't forget, the documentary didn't 'put other families through grief by highlighting their dead relatives as potentially being this man,' that had been done before the making of this documentary by tabloid journalists... The documentary simply stated/followed what they'd done...

[SymphonicX]

Oh that's alright then...let's confront grieving families with more cameras and pictures of dying relatives...if I'm not mistaken the first family they confront by this were tortured by the idea of their loved one committing suicide as they were devout Catholics - turns out it wasn't that dude - but hey, great that we put them through that turmoil just so we can put a name to a f**king picture. sorry, it did offend me somewhat!

[Neil]

Oh that's alright then...let's confront grieving families with more cameras and pictures of dying relatives...if I'm not mistaken the first family they confront by this were tortured by the idea of their loved one committing suicide as they were devout Catholics - turns out it wasn't that dude - but hey, great that we put them through that turmoil just so we can put a name to a f**king picture. sorry, it did offend me somewhat! Do you think:- a) They turned up with a camera at their front door, and just went for it and hoped for the best b) Contacted them tastefully about what they were going to do and carefully walked them though the whole process, even (most likely) with an option to pull their footage completely if unhappy with it? I'll go (b)

[SymphonicX]

yeah maybe B....doesn't make the whole idea of this completely distasteful and pointless. They probably only did the docu to prove to the filmmakers that it wasn't their loved one...it's still traumatic, unnecessary and opportunistic, even if they consented. They didn't even seem like they wanted to know how their loved one perished...why they even thought this would be a good idea, to trace a dead man's relatives because he took a nice photo in the last seconds of his life, is beyond me. What's the point? Who cares? Let the guy rest in peace. It's a photo, that's all, it may be a chilling and well taken photo, but it still a photo...if someone in my life died in a hugely tragic and horrific situation I would be mortified if people were approaching me asking me to identify photographs of the victims as they were about to die...it's fucking sick!!!!