Harry here... I've been posting some movie news and fun stories so that in addition to staying glued to the tv, radio and various news websites filling you in on the latest hiccup of information... you would have some moments to get away from that... To take a break. I spent about 15 hours today watching the World Trade Center get hit by planes and then implode... Watching the fire continue to burn at the Pentagon... Watching footage of people throwing themselves out of the tops of buildings... again and again and again. Early on, I posted the Original TalkBack Board so that all of you would have a place to share and express what you were feeling... Your fears, angers, stories and be there to talk to one another.
As I saw HATRED beginning to win out in the Talk Back I felt that there needed to be a bit of calm added to the fire. As I watched what was happening in NEW YORK, I wasn't watching anger and hatred, I was watching humanity coming together. I didn't see looting or violence against one another, I saw people helping one another... Hugging one another... And standing up and facing what had just happened. I then received this email...
Hi Harry, thanks for the note to all the New Yorkers. I live on Houston which is 30 or 40 blocks north of the WTC but at 10 AM as I was watching from in front of the Angelica Theater the first one collaped in front of my eyes. Unbelievable. I swear to God it was just like a movie. Then the streets were filled with people walking up from the scene covered in white ash. People came out in the street with cups of water and soda offering them to everyone. Just really sad.
Take care,
Kenn
This same feeling of unity and survival was expressed by StandupGuy......
Harry-
I've e-mailed you before, sometimes under the nom de mouse "Standupguy". For instance when you announced you were coming to NYC, I offered to take you out for a beer, and recommended you check out the Museum of The Moving Image here in Queens.
Unfortunately I'm writing not about being a fellow geek, but to thank/ask you. PLEASE keep the message on your site that we can't rush to judgement about any one group.
I am a 32 year old white male, I live in Queens, and spent as much time today commisserating with my Middle-Eastern neighbors, as I did with my Hispanic neighbors, or my Asian/Black/Gay/Female/Other Irish neighbors.
We here in New York aren't turning on each other, to us we're all Americans ( and more importantly we're all New Yorkers).
My wife works on the Rosie show, and at the age of 30 saw 2 planes plunge into two buildings from her office window in Rockefeller Center. And there will be no show tomorrow.
Basically, all I'm asking is keep some kind of anti-prejudice comment on the site until we as a country can get back to a sense of normalcy. You reach, and affect more people than you probably think.
Sorry if I'm rambling, but this is easily the most surreal day of my life. Particularly since I'm scheduled to do my act tomorrow night, and as of now, it still hasn't been cancelled. I love New York.
By the way, feel free to use any, or all, of what I've written on the site. Just PLEASE keep up some kind of reminder that we should not turn on each other.
Peace, and get well soon. Thanks.
Sincerely-
StandupGuy
And Finally we have word from one of AICN's Muslim readers and his reaction to what happened. The 'Martin Tupper' he is referring to is in the talkback from yesterday! Here's Horizons...
I was just reading the words people have posted on the AICN forum about the terrible terrible act of inhumanity posted on the greatest city in the world when I came across 'Martin Tupper's' words. I have to say that he has summed it up for people like me who have been sitting there trying to come to terms with what just happened.
I was on a chopper ride over these two 'front teeth of this beautiful face' just 3 weeks ago. Now when I hear this... I have been devastated not just out of a surprise of the happenings... but as a human point of view. Every once in a while an invisible force appears and gives you a little glimpse in the operation we so casually call LIFE.
I am practicing a Pakistani Muslim, living in Sydney, Australia and as a Muslim, I want to add my declaration of my religious after Tupper's words so that people know the real reaction of the Muslims around the world (as opposed to those in the streets of Palestine). I know people will look at my people to be responsible. I just want people to know that the real Muslim declares Osama bin laden, for all harms he has ever brought to the world, a Non-Muslim.
Those people dancing in the streets of Palestine, are not Muslims. Anyone, who is taking any type of positive vibe from it all, is not a Muslim. Anyone, who supports any sort of terrorism against humanity, is not a Muslim. Anyone, who doesn't understand the value of one human life, is not a Muslim. Anyone, who looks at what happened in Manhattan… and can help tears rolling from their eyes… for those who have lost their lives, their loved ones, for the bravest martyrs from the Fire, Police, and Emergency departments, who charged towards deaths in order to save others’ lives, are not even wandering close to Islam!
I know all this… cuz I AM A MUSLIM! And I know my Islam! God bless all effected… and God damn all responsible!
Horizons
Right now we are all wound up tight. This has been getting on our nerves... trampling them... and fraying them. But this is not the time to start screaming "NUKE EM TO THE STONE AGE!!!" This is the time to help New York and Washington D.C. This is a time to make a donation to the survivors and victims via this Link:
CLICK HERE TO MAKE DONATIONS TO THE VICTIMS AND SURVIVORS OF THE TERRIBLE INCIDENT OF YESTERDAY!!!
This is the time to give blood in the Tri-State Area:
St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan reports that
they've had to turn away droves of New Yorkers
wishing to give blood. However, you can discover
where to donate in your area by accessing
RedCross.Org or 1-800-GIVE-LIFE. Type "O"
blood is most needed, and Manhattan hospitals
overall request that donors go to outlying hospitals
that can then transfer to the most-needed centers.
This is a time to come to grips with what has happened. As the investigation continues, it seems that this was the work of some fundamentalists... Radicals... Zealots... This is not the entirety of the Arab world... This is the smallest of fractions of that group. DO NOT GIVE INTO HATE! This is not the time for it. If you feel like an open wound at the moment... angry and violent... channel that into something productive... There is a large Muslim communtiy in the United States and by and large... the vast vast vast vast majority are appalled. They are twice as afraid as you right now, because in addition to being afraid of the zealots... they are also afraid of you... and what unreasoned and unchecked emotions might turn into.
REVENGE will be served up by the U.S. Military and Government. Leave it to the professionals... What we can do best is donate blood, money and clothing... and effort in helping to pull New York and our Nation from the doldroms that are settling in.
My fellow Film Fans... Take care and be safe,
Harry
Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here. Actually, today, call me Drew. I just want to take a moment to offer my thoughts and prayers to everyone in New York and Washington tonight, to the families of all those in the planes or in the buildings or on the streets. My own father was travelling yesterday in that area, and there was a short time where I was anxiously waiting on word. There are still friends I haven't heard from, people whose safety I am anxiously praying for.
Like Harry, I've been moved by the words I'm getting from people in New York, like this letter:
Hi Harry,
I live in New York City, Greenwich Village to be precise and today the term "In my backyard" took on a new meaning. As you may know, in terms of geography of the city, there is Greenwich Village where I live, an area called TriBeCa, and then the Financial District where the Twin Towers were. Normally I would walk out of my building and if I turned left, I have a direct clear view of the World Trade Center. Well this morning I saw an explosion rip through tower two (The first hit had already happened unbeknownst to us NYer's when we woke up). We all stood around, our parked cars open and news radio giving us updates. Then, as if it were erased from the sky, the building just disintegrated before our eyes. Not much longer later, the second one went. The cries, the screams, the grief was unparalleled. Looking at the buildings on fire -- Harry, it just looked like a movie projected onto the sky. But there was no sound form the buildings as they fell. We were about 3/4 mile north and the silence was just so errie. There was no Dolby Surround sound effects, there was no Beethoven's Ninth, no Bruce Willis, no Will Smith. It was real.
I would like to say that as a native New Yorker, we get a bad rap sometimes in the eyes of the rest of the country as being rude or gruff everyone was calm, and genuinely cool. Everyone was pulling for everyone else. Payphones were open lines, and even Starbuck's was handing out free bottled water and coffee to those who needed it.
When I think of recent events that have generated intense sadness iun the heart's of New Yorker's: John Lennon's murder, the WTC bombing in '93, even the death of JFK jr, pale in comparison to what happened today. This is the saddest day in the city's history. The hate that took to start the day off, was overcome by love and compassion.
I commend you for urging sympathy and love amongst your readers. As easy as it is to send hate mails, racial attacks, and call for blood, we must stay calm and clear and let the professionals take care of this horrible tragedy. I hope that we are all safe and blessed. Thanks for your time.
Joe from NYC
I've also gotten letters from you about the fate of various entertainment projects and I have to say... now is really not the time to start worrying about that. Both BIG TROUBLE and COLLATERAL DAMAGE will be moved out of the fall release schedule due to story elements that would be too difficult to see in a fictional context, and beyond that, nothing really matters. SPIDER-MAN, THE SUM OF ALL FEARS... these are movies. They're not truly important in the grand scheme of things. Decisions obviously must be made regarding elements of these films, but not today. Not this week. They'll be important again as we move forward, as we rebuild from today, and as we work to heal as individuals and as a group. Laughter and escapism and the bonding of strangers in the dark over entertainment shared... those things have their place, and we will get there soon enough.
For now, though, let's focus on the matters at hand. Like Harry, I want to urge our readers to look beyond the immediate anger and anguish of these insane, heartrending events, and realize that there will be retribution against those responsible. As Americans, we have another goal as well, though. We have to rise above these events. We have to be better than these events. If we lash out, afraid and rash, then we continue to give those responsible exactly what they want.
Good morning to you all, and god bless America.
Drew McWeeny out.
