United 93

Pearl Harbor was on TV tonight, and it made me think about a few things:

• It is a mediocre love story, but the scenes of the actual attack are extremely well-executed and very moving. I think it's important to understand how that happened and see it unfold. Its also important to see how we responded to it.
• My initial response to the trailer for United 93 was this: I felt a chill as I watched and listened to the trailer. I felt like I wasn't ready for it. Like it was too soon and the wounds of 9/11 are still too fresh. I lost no family or friends that day. I was in Utah, far away from this incidents, but I think we were all wounded by it.Movies have been made of tragedies before. Titanic immediately springs to mind. But often those movies are about accidents. Perhaps the follies of man influenced those events, but 9/11 was an act of cold and calculated malice, and that day there was no happy ending. There were heroes, but part of me doesn't want to see that on screen. If I had to make a decision about whether to see it today, I don't think I would. I just don't think I'm ready.
• I no longer feel that way. Nearly every review I've seen of the film has been positive, mentioning the realistic way that fictionalized elements are portrayed, as well as how documented issues are shown. I am sure that watching the movie would be disturbing and difficult, but that's not sufficient reason to avoid it. However it is Rated R, so I may avoid it for that reason. I just thought it was worth commenting on my change of heart.