Our choices reveal more than we may think

Choices.

In commemoration of the events on September 11, 2001, on ABC the network has chosen to show a fictionalized version of the events leading to September 11, 2001, a narrative that was allowed to be previewed almost solely by advocates of the right-wing (and mainly Republican cheerleaders), approximately two months before the next election.

In commemoration of the events on September 11, 2001, on CBS the network has chosen to show a narrative based upon a compilation of interviews along with film shot by two documentary filmmakers who were following a rookie in the New York City Fire Department for almost a year before the terrorist attacks, including footage shot in the World Trade Center after the planes hit the buildings.

Who made each program?

What motivated the choices made regarding what to broadcast?

What did you choose to view?

Which do you think is better for our nation to view, to analyze, to consider, and to remember?

Why do you think that?

Once we stop questioning, we have given up our humanity, our reasoning, our rights.

I don’t ask you to think exactly as I do, quite the contrary, I ask you to think for yourself, and never let someone else do the thinking for you.

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I didn’t watch either of them.

I just didn’t see any need.

Let’s see here.
We have a documentary that bores in, places the event in a box detached from everything else that lead up to it, is the epitome of vertical thinking, and delves into the realm of only the individual hero.
Against this we have a drama, which is no more defamatory than the movie Patton(which had as its technical advisor a man who loathed Patton, Omar Bradley, and said as much in writing), forces us to think in a horizontal fashion(no mean feat for most of the country), do homework(did it really happen like that? Best go check what google and wiki say before I make up my mind.), and, as I flipped back and forth between football and the drama, spent 3 hours pointing out where one presidential administration screwed up royally and was unserious and 2 hours giving the same treatment to the following admin interspersed with odes to the NOrthern Alliance leader and scenes of what the terrorists were up to.

Yeah, the second one is sooooooo unworthy of our time and total reichwing histrionics. with scense where terrorists say such things like ‘with this action the people of America will force their leaders to change their foreign policy’ and Dick Clarke blasting Team Bush for not taking the inititative against terrorists how can it be anything but?

Actually, I’m with the NYT on this one. Pretty generously unkind to all but a few players(Richard Clarke, Paul O’Neil, a few field agents for the CIA, the NA leader).

But hey, that’s me. I’m not into the study of the individual that’s the fashion these days. YMMV.

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