Posted: 08/12/2006

World Trade Center

(2006)

by Sawyer J. Lahr

The most insightful statement regarding the 9.11 tragedy made by any of the characters in Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center, was made by Staff Sergeant Dave Karnes (Michael Shannon). He said (and I paraphrase), “God made the smoke because he didn’t think we were ready to see what’s beyond it.” Unable to see through clouds of debris, ash, and smoke, fire fighters, police officers, rescue workers, and U.S. marines, decide to wait for the smoke to clear before entering the blinding rubble of the collapsed trade towers in New York City, NY.

Like the smoke, we, as Americans have turned a blind eye at the world around us and how our actions affect others, other countries, and other peoples. Commercialism crashes down in the store windows of the shopping mall in the median between the two trade towers where John McLoughlin (Nicholas Cage) and Will Jimeno (Michael Peña) are crushed. Islamic extremists who commit such terrorist attacks as on September 11th probably desire the destructive consequences of disrupting a globalizing economy that Americans experienced.

The quality of filmmaking, beginning with the first scenes of the movie, was solidly organized. The establishment of New York City as the setting of World Trade Center was grittily exposing of street life and represented by iconic imagery of the Big Apple’s cityscape.

McLoughlin’s character was introduced going about his morning routine. He is already awake when he checks his alarm clock acknowledging that it is time for him to get ready for work as a Port Authority Cop. Director Stone conveys to his audience the details of McLoughlin’s life through images accompanied by a gently orchestrated soundtrack.

On the other hand, Jimeno’s character is established very shallowly compared to McLoughlin. We do not learn until after the towers are hit that Jimeno has a wife and child, Biaca (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who live in New Jersey.

Frankly, the characters were not complex enough to be considered anymore than average Americans.

McLoughlin is a stereotypical emotionally stunted suburbanite father and Jimeno is a common working-class Hispanic man who keeps he and his fellow entrapped officer awake and alive by making pop culture references.

As for having any political slant or position for which Stone has a known reputation, World Trade Center is not about the controversial issues regarding the deficiency of the United States executive branch, but about the core values often associated with post WWII America life and the American Dream.

Regardless, this is a tragedy more Americans, including the Bush administration, should have been prepared for and should have expected.

The story, as we all know. is based on real events and written by survivors on whom this film’s characters are based. These characters, however, are not heroes. Before the team of Port Authority cops can evacuate anyone, they are crushed by tons of falling debris eventually to be, themselves, rescued from the rubble. Further, it seems, according to this story, being a hero is being male, being in the right place at the right time, and doing exactly what a police officer, fire fighter, rescue worker, paramedic, or marine is paid to do; that is, to save the lives of others.

It was easier to side with the officer who committed suicide because he accepted death and forgave himself for not being humanly able to save his life or the lives of his partners. Surrender, in this case, is not weak despite the film’s obvious, Christian sentiment.

Truly, this is a film Americans are still not ready to see. Because of its controversial interpretation, the 9.11 tragedy continues to be an event without proper closure. The characters in this story resolved their life or death conflict through images of hope, whether a desperate wife or Christ, Jesus. However, these idol and idyllic images are not enough to save us from ourselves. Neither is a fallen World Trade Center enough to lift the haze of negligence from in front of our eyes.

Sawyer J. Lahr is a Columbia College Chicago Film student and aspiring film critic.

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