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puella -> The Pathway to 9/11?... Right across the graves of the victims and up to the voting booth (9/9/2006 6:33:06 AM)
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I knew people and cared for people who perished in the attack on the towers. The more I learn about this docu-drama, including their attempt to manage history, right down to the 're-education' of young minds via lesson plans, the more furious I become. I sent a letter to my Congresswoman (Louise Slaughter), Senators, my local paper, a couple of news blogs and the national and local ABC network and affiliates. I did not put my personal political beliefs in the letter, I simply stated why their actions are an affront to me and others who will be mourning on a very personal level these next few days. To further my new found disgust in ABC/Disney... Their reply was to ask if I wanted to go on camera and tell about how I felt watching people I loved die on their network, 5 years ago. I not only encourage you all to boycott the Pathway to 9/11, for its dogged determination to establish falsehoods as the new history of that day, but because of their absolute disregard for the reality beyond the 'drama'... those who mourn and whose lost loved ones and personal grief are being used to rake up the scale in the drama portion of their 'docu-drama'. If you feel that you can personally do a bit more than just 'feel bad' about the situation, I encourage you to send even the briefest email to your local ABC affiliate. I will attach both my letters to ABC and their reply to this post, and the odious response I received back. Thank you. On September 11, 2001, I watched as two planes crashed into the World Trade Center, ultimately claiming the lives of 2,749 Americans. I knew people who died that day. I watched as somewhere in those collapsing buildings, people I cared about were made victims of agendas they played no part in. I sat horrified, mesmerized, and unbelieving as over and over again the images of the buildings and victims, the firefighters, aid workers and New York residents were blitzed across the TV screen. Ironically, I watched this news coverage on my local ABC affiliate. I find it ironic today, as I learn that the very same network I turned to for coverage and information of those unfolding atrocities is now abusing the grief and anguish of the people who still mourn that day, in an almost unbelievably appalling manner. My letter today is not about promoting a political agenda. I have not written it to further any particular beliefs I hold, nor to further anyone’s campaign or to promote a side in the upcoming elections. My letter is written as one who lost someone on September 11, 2001. My letter is to document my outrage at what could at best be labeled an indelicacy on the part of ABC and Disney, and what, at the very worst (and which I am not certain is at all undeserved), might be labeled a corporate/political machination preying upon the concerns of the general citizenry of this country after the largest terror attack on American soil, and a victimization of those who personally grieve the loss of loved ones, friends, family members and colleagues. In ‘commemoration’ of the 5 year anniversary of the attacks on September 11th, 2001, ABC will be airing the ‘docu-drama’, The Path to 9/11. I certainly will not watch it, and with its airing, I will not watch another program on ABC. Firstly, I would state that grief needs no dramatization, and it certainly does not need a made-for-TV movie thrusting it out of the realm of personal loss and into that of a corporate/political coup. I find it absolutely offensive that the death of so many people is being used as an opportunity to capture Nielsen ratings and to promote a political agenda by weaving together half truths and inaccuracies with a dash carefully selected nuggets of the actual 9/11 Commission Report to give it an air of legitimacy. Secondly, I doggedly question the verity of this ‘documentary’. The parts I have seen and read, have been full of inaccuracies, and the very fact that the people who were on the 9/11 Commission have come out to denounce it for its inaccuracies and the manipulations which lead to creation of false impressions, is a pretty damning blow to any credibility that the creators may tried to establish, in my mind. But more importantly than that, I am absolutely horrified that ABC and Disney would possibly think it is acceptable to utilize the ‘captivating’ trauma and horrific drama of that day to capitalize on whatever agenda they are promoting, be it corporate greed or political machination. Based upon the outrage of the commissioners, it would seem the motivation in making this travesty was not done out of a sense of longing to promote a truthful and unbiased look at what lead to those horrible series of tragedies on that day. Also, I have not heard of either the network or the production company offering to donate any profits they make, however they willl be making them to the survivors, the firemen and aid workers, or the widows and children of those who perished, The fourty million dollars you spent on producing this appalling falsity would have gone a long way to those now suffering from the effects of having helped at ground zero. I have no reason to believe there were any altruistic motives on behalf of either Disney or ABC, whatsoever. Have the people of this country become nothing more than a potential market? Have we no more importance than a possible vote in an election, or a consumer of marketed goods, or a targeted TV demographic? Thousands of people died on 9/11. Thousands more still mourn the loss of someone on who died on that day. Surely that demographic should not only be noted, but respected. This travesty of public manipulation is more than an outrage; it is a further victimization to be borne by people completely separate from this unfolding agenda. It rapes our intelligence by assuming we have not taken the time or care to seek out and process the documented facts of this tragedy which has affected us. It has invaded both our personal and civic grief, by making a TV extravaganza (based more on dramatic license and the captivation we have with horror and the fear still lingering within us than any presentation of factual chronology) of a tragedy which has manifested both personally and nationally. It has interrupted the privacy and sanctity of our mourning as surely and grossly as any vitriolic protester at a funeral of a fallen, gay serviceman, desperately crying out their rapturous hate in the hopes of some sort of media moment for their sad cause. It has created another set of victims of 9/11; a new set of victims of 9/11, this time that the hands of fellow Americans and two iconic entertainment entities that many of us grew up watching, trustingly. For shame. --------------------------------------------------- Jennifer, We certainly appreciate you writing to us. Would you be interested in sharing your views on camera? We'd also like to hear more about your personal experience on 9/11. Thank you, K.... L..... --------------------------------------------------------------------- I do not think you understand, Ms. L...., I certainly will not give you 'camera time' to further exploit my grief. Nor will I patronize your station and affiliates after you air that program. You have made a poor and heartless choice in that program, and I and many more who also share my grief, will not take part in a network that can so easily and callously promote an agenda while trampling over the grief of thousands of people. I am very disappointed in your network. Just another bit of sadness to deal with as I mourn. Jennifer
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