Chilling fusion of fact and fancy


	September 15, 2001	atimes.com

Front

Chilling fusion of fact and fancy
By Mario Osava

RIO DE JANEIRO - The world's response to the tragedy of the terrorist attacks in the United States reinforces the theory that there is growing confusion - or fusion - between life and show business, reality and fiction.

The initial sensation on seeing the broadcast images of the attacks on Tuesday was that it was a sequel or a new variation on the films produced by Hollywood, movies in which New York and Washington frequently appear as the targets of terrorists originating outside the country. The film Independence Day is one recent example.

As a spectacle, albeit one rooted in tragedy, Tuesday' s events have far eclipsed even the Gulf War of 1990, when US bombardments against Baghdad were broadcast live on globalized television. News of the death and funeral of Princess Diana of Wales, in 1997, are another case that forms part of this new tragi-series genre.

Pictures of the commercial airliners crashing into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City are scenes that are difficult to imagine ever being surpassed in dramatic effect because of their horrifying reality. The same applies to images of the blazing Pentagon, headquarters of the US Defense Department in Washington, also the target of a suicide airliner crash.

One can imagine that the terrorists, capable of acting with a great deal of precision as they demonstrated on Tuesday, planned to reinforce the impact of their actions using the communications media, and timed the crashes accordingly. The first attack on the World Trade Center attracted reporters and camera crews, and occurred enough time in advance so that the second attack, on the other tower, was captured by photographers and camera operators from all angles, and even broadcast live.

The incidents combined all the elements of a Hollywood box-office hit, but with complete surprise. The rest of the shock was achieved by the unprecedented magnitude of the terrorist acts, with likely many thousands dead, drawn from many countries and many walks of life. Adding to the chaos was the grounding of all domestic and international flights in the United States, cutting off the concrete links with much of the rest of the world.

The strong emotions provoked by the attacks encompass the fear of danger from an unknown enemy, the feeling of general insecurity, anxiety about the potential for another attack, expectations of US reprisals, and mourning for the seemingly innumerable individuals who disappeared under the rubble.

The captive attention of the world audience will probably last for weeks. For several days, hope will remain for finding survivors, and efforts will be made to identify bodies, while the countries of origin of many of the victims will be awaiting news about their emigrants and tourists who were in New York.

Commentaries made around the world following the initial news largely categorized the acts as an historic dividing marker, asserting that "the world will never be the same". The idea of "the day after", with its cinematographic references, has never been more appropriate.

Television programs have held the attention of the US and of the rest of the world, expanding the dominance of this form of mass communication in the world of entertainment, luring audiences away from film, theater and sports for days, if not weeks.

Perhaps ironically, it is the United States that has most cultivated "the fear industry" in fiction, television series and film, something that could inspire terrorist attacks just like the ones that occurred on September 11. This date will now change significance after long being remembered as the day of the bloody military coup in 1973 when Augusto Pinochet began his iron-fisted dictatorship in Chile, remaining in power until 1990.

On screen and in novels, US institutions and cities have suffered the most varied forms of threats, from tidal waves to invasions by giant gorillas (King Kong) or by extraterrestrials, to attacks by fatal viruses, among a long list of catastrophes.

The hijacking of airplanes, even one carrying the US president, is the theme of numerous Hollywood movies. Also frequently appearing in film are attacks against the US by foreign terrorists. Since the end of the Cold War they have tended to be portrayed as Muslim extremists, such as in The Siege, which was set in New York and was loudly condemned by the Arab community.

In many films, the coincidence with reality can be shocking. The latest case of this is in a series produced by the US-based Fox television, The Lone Gunmen, the plot of which includes a terrorist plan to crash an aircraft into the World Trade Center.

The book industry in the US also exploits the terror that stalks the country. Tom Clancy, in his 1994 novel Debt of Honor, writes of an armed conflict between the US and Japan. The story involves a Japanese commercial airline pilot who lost a son in the war. He fills a Boeing jet with explosives to launch a suicide attack against the Capitol, headquarters of the US Congress in Washington.

The transformation of life into spectacle, particularly in the United States, is the theme of Life the Movie: How Entertainment Conquered Reality, by culture critic Neal Gabler.

He says that entertainment has become the dominant force in US daily life, and its values have spread to all sectors, including religion, politics, business and academia. The author argues that we now self-consciously model our own lives on the "movies" and thus are constantly creating what he calls "lifies".

(Inter Press Service)