September 11th, 2001 Bonus #4

The event that took place on September 11th, 2001 has changed our world arguably more than any other terrorist attack: the collapse of the two tallest buildings in the most populated city in America. The world was shaken, but the effects rippled throughout the United States. The opposition had drawn first blood. Sure, we learned from the attack by making Airport security virtually impenetrable and adding precautions so this could be prevented in the future, but what is most important is the political implications. The greatest nation in the world had a moment in which its proclaimed invincibility was shattered. The United States of America was attacked on a mass scale and the safety we took for granted was tainted with the lives of thousands of Americans. I can vaguely remember that day, sitting in my kindergarten classroom probably learning about shapes and colors. Another teacher interrupted the class and told our teacher to watch the news. As she went to her computer to watch, she told us to have an extended nap time. I remember her bawling and having no idea why until I got home later that day and my mother told me what had happened. I only remember a few days of my life as a kindergartener, but this event was so imprinted and so real, that I can still remember that day 16 years later. We don’t celebrate the events of 9/11, but I think it serves as a reminder that we are not invincible. However, I think we commemorate the event to show that we are relentless. Nothing will keep us down for long. We will only come back stronger.

I have watched videos of the towers burning and I have watched the conspiracy theories behind it. Watching these videos or watching John Fitzgerald Kennedy being assassinated is a weird fixation or fetish that people naturally have. Their curiosity or their desire to see it with their own eyes drives them to watch these videos. Seeing these events happen in person is a tragedy, but watching a video almost makes us believe it isn’t real. We don’t have to experience the pain that took place. We can ignore the tragedy that happened. The emotions aren’t portrayed in the videos the same as they were in real life. The shock and the horror feelings are gone. I don’t know why I wanted to watch JFK get shot, but I did. I watched it right before I wrote this essay. Although the quality of the video isn’t great, you can still feel the emotion from his wife after she was shot. But, this isn’t surprising or horrifying as I am sure it was that day. It is like watching a movie that we have already seen. We know what it going to happen, we know the story, and we know who the Scooby-Doo villain is. I think watching a video of 9/11 or watching JFK get shot many years later is almost like reading a history book rather than watching a national tragedy. 

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