On September 11, 2001, three planes struck high-profile targets in the eastern United States - killing thousands. A 4th hi-jacked plane crashed into a Pennsylvania field killing everyone on board. As the nation started to come to grips with this new tragedy, the PR machinery of the Bush Administration, and the controling entities of the petroleum and military industries, kicked into high-gear. Across the country's TV screens, the image of the 2nd plane crashing into the World Trade Center, was flashing over and over again. The voice-over on all the corporate media was the same. There was the implied guilt by extreemist muslims (this in the absence of any real information.) There was the speculation about how many of our civil liberties we would be expected to give up in order to feel safe. There was the message that this was an attack on America and that we would be forced to respond with war. These themes also inundated our print, web and radio media as well. These messages were coming across with such uniformity and consistency, in the first few hours of the tragedy, that one had to wonder, "Why does all the coverage look and sound the same?," "Why is there no background information being provided as to our involvement in Central Asia and the Middle East?," "Why just assume that we are going to be at war and that we have to give up any civil liberties?," "Why haven't we progressed beyond the racism and jingoism of former wars?," "Who is benefitting from all of this and who is now going to suffer the most?," "Are the actions of the Bush administration and Homeland Security making us any safer?" "Do we have the courage to seek the underlying causes of suffering and war and really strive for a better world or will our military just kill a bunch of poor people and help secure the way for new oil pipelines and friendly regimes?," "How can we, the citizens, move our culture along and get this type of fear-mongering and resource-grubbing behind us?" "How can we halt the racism that is targeting certain communities in the US right now?" "What are organizers, artists and activists doing to resist the racist detentions and deportations?" "Is our fear-motivated response to September 11 something unique and new, or is it part of a pattern of opportunistic war-mongering and PR-spin campaigns that go back to the Creel Commission?" "How is the flood of destructive imagery (combined with the patriotic messages) just like those that followed Pearl Harbor and how are they different?" "Who are the 'players' and PR firms who 'handled' the crisis of September 11 and 'placed' content and messages for the current powers that be?" "Who are the courageous youth and activists of today - the ones that are braving the new atmosphere of conformity and fear and getting out there and speaking out for justice, tolerance and sanity?" These are many of the questions that this project will raise for viewers and explore through interviews, archival footage, recent protest footage and samples of the corporate media coverage. Among some of the voices who will provide the documentary's narrative thread are: people who have faced racist attacks, Japanese citizens who were interned during WWII, media critics, policy analysts, former military personnel and people in cafes and on the streets of America. Facts and perspectives will come to light as interviewees provide clues and insights and also mull around their own answers to the quandries that we find ourselves in at the beginning of the new millenium. www.crazyjeff.net
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Download Preview Here UPDATE ON THE PROJECT: Well, right after Oct. 7, 2001, when the U.S. started officially bombing in Afghanistan, I taped a lot of great source material at rallies, speakouts and so forth. I also had a chance to interview Yuri Kochiyama and Youmna Chalala (of the ADC / the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and AWSA / the Arab Women's Solidartiy Association.) So, I'm happy to have all this great video material to work with. At present, I need to generate some more interview material and get some archival footage and documents together and then find (or set-up) a stable place to edit the piece together. I now have limited access to an edit machine on a sproradic basis, so, please check back every now and then for more clips and preview edits (like the one above.) OK, Peace Out ... Jeff |
