Just been reminiscing over the last decade and I realized the difference between the impact the tragedy of 9/11 had versus the MAMMOTH tragedy of the Tsunami in the Indian ocean.
When you see footage of the planes slamming into the towers against an emotive soundtrack you tend to get a fraction lumpy in the throat, but footage of a giant wave with VASTLY more devastation about to unfold and the only emotion you generally feel is awe, but not sadness ... for some reason.
Why?.
Friday, 1 January 2010
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Good question. Something about the imagery or human frailty I guess, although that should be obvious. I see the image of either tower and I already know that there are thousands of people clustered in there about to die. Most of the Tsunami videos, most not all, show small groups of people being picked off. It's also man vs man in one incident and man vs nature in another. Not sure if that matters. I'm rambling. Happy New Year Pete.
ReplyDeletePuma
The American frame of vision dictates a lot of what we see in news and in culture. More 24 hr news channels to generate content etc. Not saying in any way that the importance of Sept 11 was exaggerated, but if it'd happened in a country without the same cultural significance to the West (for instance the nations that were wiped out on Boxing Day 04 - or even if those planes took out the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur for arguments sake) it wouldn't be on the same page as the tsunami.
ReplyDeleteIt was probably also timing. 9-11 happened first. There hadn't been a massive, epoch-shattering disaster of that nature in recent history. I suspect if the tsunami had preceded 9-11 it would have shaped the rest of the world's response to it. Probably wouldn't have had the same impact. Still would have in the States I'd suggest.
Perhaps we more readily acknowledge our powerlessness against the power of nature whereas human acts (especially those involving 747s) have a more immediately catastrophic impact? I'm not sure but I do know that I feel the same way as you do when thinking about both events.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lou and Doc. They are both epic tragedies but there's something inherently evil about what happened in 9/11--planning to kill so many people--where the tsunami was a tragic but natural occurance.
ReplyDeleteAnd Doc is right--if 9/11 had happened anywhere else in the world it wouldn't have had the same impact, simply because of not only the footage but the very fact that the nation that boasts itself to be the most powerful in the world was attacked.
With the advent of the internet, the american frame of vision is dictating less and less what you see and it never dictated what you *feel* when you see an image. Besides, neither the live footage of 911 nor the footage of the tsunami was filmed by major networks. It was the man on the street taping with a handheld camera.
ReplyDeletePuma
Happy New Year to you too Puma. Stay safe.
ReplyDeleteIt's an odd one. I'm with Puma in regards to the last point and that is the media don't really dictate your emotions. Must say though, I balled my fucken eyes out seeing stories from the tsunami affected areas and generally I well up knowing whose in those planes as you watch them slam into the buildings and the absolute horror they must have been going through. Possibly that what the difference is. 9/11 was a random act of man versus man where the innocent were emotionally tortured to their demise. Same as with the people in the buildings jumping to their end and hearing the recordings of people dying real time. FKN horrific stuff.
Though the tsunami was 1000+ times as devastating the situation was basically natural. Possibly that's the difference...
Jen's got a slam dunk with Intent.
ReplyDeleteHappy 2010 Bro.
Thanks NBob, you too mate.
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