World Trade Center

I have some thoughts on the movie World Trade Center and felt this was the best place to share them....

My husband and I recently went to the movies to see World Trade Center, and I’ve been asked if it is a good movie. I’m not exactly sure how to respond.

“Good” sometimes means “well made” and since I’m not a professional movie critic I’m not really qualified to say if it is Oscar material or not. (Who even knows what “Oscar Material” is anyway?) I just know what I like and what I don’t, and I can’t really say I liked this movie.

“Good” can mean “family friendly?” In this case that would be a negative. There was more foul language than I care for my children (or even myself) to hear. (Though I understand why certain word choices were made.) It was a very emotional movie and probably too intense for young viewers.

If “good” is synonymous with “entertaining” it once again fails the test. An “entertaining” movie should leave you with a smile or warm fuzzy feelings. At the very least you should leave the theater with a skip in your step or a new thought or feeling to ponder. An “entertaining” movie should never leave you depressed. This one left me with a heavy heart.

Though it fails all the above criteria I would still recommend seeing World Trade Center. It is a poignant reminder of the fateful day the twin towers fell. It puts real faces on the 9-11 catastrophe. It is a dramatic reminder of the heroism and fortitude of the American people who put their lives on the line for others. And for that reason I recommend it.

There are those who feel re-living 9-11 is detrimental to our nation and our relationship with our Islamic neighbors. Many feel we should allow those wounds to heal and not generate more hostility and hatred toward our adversaries through the replaying of those horrific events. While the remembrance of 911 may, indeed, spark new waves of anger and revenge in the hearts of some, we must continue honoring those people who sacrificially worked to save the lives of strangers. We must mourn the innocents who died that day. And most importantly, we must never forget that America is vulnerable. We might be “indivisible” but we aren’t invincible. We may have prosperity, freedoms, and power that most of the world covets, but we are not indestructible. If nothing else, reliving 9-11 brings us back to our knees, back to the place where we no longer trust in our military might or “superior” government, but in God Almighty who is our only true refuge, strength, and ever present help in time of trouble.

Perhaps that’s what 9-11-01 was all about.

The LORD foils the plans of the nations;

he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever,

the purposes of his heart through all generations.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,

the people he chose for his inheritance.
From heaven the LORD looks down

and sees all mankind;
from his dwelling place he watches

all who live on earth-
he who forms the hearts of all,

who considers everything they do.
No king is saved by the size of his army;

no warrior escapes by his great strength.
A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;

despite all its great strength it cannot save.
But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,

on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
to deliver them from death

and keep them alive in famine.
We wait in hope for the LORD;

he is our help and our shield.
In him our hearts rejoice,

for we trust in his holy name.
May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,

even as we put our hope in you.
Psalm 33:10-22 (NIV)

~ Drewe Llyn Jeffcoat