MSNBC is replaying their coverage of the 9/11 right now. I’ve been glued to the television for the past couple of hours but cannot quite figure out why. The “highlight reel” has been played a thousand times over in the past years but I’m finding something about it fascinating in a weird way.
I know how the story unfolds so I keep waiting to see each event happen and the reactions of the reporters. Maybe part of me finds it refreshing to hear news people reporting actual unfiltered news. Maybe it’s their chaos and attempt to maintain professionalism that’s interesting.
Is anybody else experiencing this same sterile fascination? I’m not trying to be crass about all of this, I’m surprised.
I know this sounds SO. LAME. but I am not ready to see this. I was cringing and my stomach knotted up a tiny bit just from thinking about it as I read the OP. The thought of watching the coverage and knowing what the reporters don’t know, especially between the first and second impacts and before the collapses - it’s just too much. I would really love to see it in 20 years or so, though.
I’m watching it now too, and the second plane just hit. Man is that (and the stunned reporting, especially from the woman on the cell phone announcing it as it happens in front of her) hard to watch.
I didn’t get to watch this as it happened, although I saw MSNBC’s replay of it last year. Fascinating to watch, although 7 years passing have kind of dulled the impact for me.
One thing I noticed is that there doesn’t seem to be any video footage from the scene, it’s all shot from a far distance away. I know there were cameras there, I’ve seen the documentaries. Did any network have live coverage from the scene, or did the police just not want them broadcasting from there for some reason?
I watched it for a good, long while. I think part of the fascination is that we know what’s going to happen but they don’t. The moment when the 2nd plane hits is one of the all time WTF moments in television history. The gasps from the anchors and crew are audible. Katie Couric even almost says “what the fuck,” at one point and then catches herself.
To me, it wasn’t so much seeing the events again that was interesting, but observing the reactions to them with a little bit of distance.
This site has video from all the major networks starting at around 8:30 that morning. The over the air network feeds do have some local cut-ins, FYI. And ignore the comments posted by other users for your own sanity.
The History Channel (I know, shut up) tonight had a program called “102 Minutes That Changed America.” It was fascinating because it used footage shot by everyday people who happened to have a camera lying around that day. It was a unique perspective on the day. If you get a chance (viewer discretion etc.) you should check it out.
I’m watching that History Channel show. It’s fascinating in a completely different way. There was just some footage of firemen watching someone jump. You can hear the lady screaming as she falls. It’s so fucked up!
I’m feeling waaay more emotion watching this than I did that day. Pretty sobering stuff.
I catch this every year, and every year it’s like the actual day it happened. But this year one of the calls after the Pentagon was hit was from Tim Russert. Now that was spooky.
I didn’t know all that footage was on archive.org, though obviously it makes sense. I’m supposed to be doing something else, but I’ve been glued to the monitor, watching CNN try to make sense of what just happened. It makes my stomach clench right up to know what’s about to happen and hear them wittering on cell phones or whatever beforehand.
I watched this last night, I just couldn’t pull myself away.
I think the footage of the girls in the apartment of when plane 2 hits was incredible. They went from confusion to hysteria in two seconds. That’s when we knew this wasn’t an accident.
Ugh. The part you mentioned with the jumpers was horrible. The one firefighter who watches the fall and then just gets so angry in defeat… You really get a sense of how helpless many of them felt.
I almost couldn’t stand to listen to the radios of the firefighters in the tower. Just knowing that in a few minutes those towers were going down and those guys were still trying to get up there and fight the fires…
It’s because we’re watching real time reactions, knowing what’s going to happen next. It just kept piling on that day, the plane hit, then the second plane hit, then the plane hit the Pentagon, then Tower 2 fell, then Tower 1 fell, then Flight 93 crashed. So there’s a disbelief among the reporters that it can’t get any worse, but we know it does.
I’m going to watch 102 Minutes that Changed the World this weekend…Ivylad hates watching Sept 11 stuff. He says it just pisses him off. I also have the documentary by the French brothers. They were filming a documentary about rookie NY firefighters and caught the only footage of the first plane hitting.
Amen. I’m just lately able to catch a glimpse of the Chicago skyline without half-imagining a plane flying into the John Hancock building. Not that I didn’t do it a few times myself in my MS Flight Simulator days. I don’t take my old pleasure in watching buildings collapse in movies or controlled demolitions, either. Had enough collapsing buildings, thanks.