The Arts in New York City

I suppose 9/11 must’ve began like any other day. I must’ve woken up, and one of my parents must’ve driven my sister and me to school, because that’s where we ended up.

I was sitting in Mrs. Gilvary’s third grade class when one of the teacher’s assistants walked in. “One of the towers of the World Trade Center just fell,” she must’ve said, or something like that. And whatever routine we were following must’ve stopped, because more important things were going on in the world.

“Who has a family member who works in the World Trade Center?” I remember Mrs. Gilvary asking. I jealously watched as a couple of kids raised their hands. Show offs, I thought.

A little later I while I was using the restroom on the upper floor of the school building I found a few girls huddled around the small window along the wall of the last stall. I joined them as watched as a large cloud of black smoke drifted from the two burning buildings just over thirty miles away from my small school located in Hollis, NY. At that time the news from earlier became a little more real. But I wasn’t upset or scared. This is actually a bit uncomfortable for me to admit, but at that time I felt important and excited. Something interesting was happening just a few miles away and now I could report this smoke back to my classmates.

As an eight-year-old child, 9/11 was not as traumatic an event for me as it must’ve been for the adults of the time. I didn’t understand the magnitude of the situation, I didn’t understand that thousands of people had either died jumping out of windows, died with the collapse towers, or were dying under the pounds of rubble. I didn’t understand that the country was under attack. All I knew was that something different and important was going on. And when I came home and saw that the coverage of the towers took over channels five, eleven, and thirteen, I thought: but Sailor Moon was supposed to be on Kids WB today.

After 9/11, my parents’ perception of New York changed a little. They came here for opportunity, for a new start. Not for terrorists attacks. My father actually works in Manhattan; thankfully he wasn’t too near the towers the day of but after the events of 9/11 my mother wanted him to stop working there. For the people who lived in New York, 9/11 could not be any more real. And after that day, for a short time, New York wasn’t as glamorous, not as amazing. Instead it was a place with a red dot on its head. ‘Of course they’d bomb New York, we’re the center of everything.’ ‘We had it coming to us, didn’t we?’ ‘No! Why? I don’t understand why they did this!’

Flipping through the channels for the next few days I saw multiple pictures and videos of the same footage of the towers. And then the more creative ones: pictures of missing people, crying people, phone calls between those on the plane and their families. When the events of what was happening became too real, I’d turn off the television, because I had that option, because even though I lived in New York, since I was young and not directly affected by the events, it was that easy for me to forget. I just had to hit the power button. That’s how I imagine it must have been for the rest of America.

OK that was a large generalization. But I honestly feel that those who lived in Nowheresville, Idaho and Invisibletown, Wisconsin did not feel the same terror as those in New York. I’m not saying they were not affected but, I’m saying that if they didn’t have family members or friends who worked in the World Trade Center their worries did not run as far as the ones of the victims’ families. Perhaps their fears were as easily extinguished as mine: with a click of a button.

There were those who used the fear and pain they experienced to create works of art like pictures and plays. Creating art is never easy. But from experience, the easiest way to create a “good” piece of art is to utilize the emotion from a painful experience. But are all artworks that portray painful/horrific experiences good? No.

And I have to honestly say that I was apathetic to the 9/11 Peace Quilt. As I said creating art is not easy, and while it is easier to turn a painful experience into art, a work of art that portrays an event experienced by thousands of people will have different responses to it, as each of those individuals experienced the event a different way. An on duty fireman who worked in the area will always see the event differently than the six-year-old boy who lost his mother in the south tower. But I have negative feelings toward the Peace Quilt for a different reason.

This is going to sound a bit harsh but the Peace Quilt was put together by a bunch of children who were handed crayons and markers and told to draw their feelings of 9/11. Looking at the messages and drawings, I could see what they were trying to do, as the message was cut out and pasted in plain sight, but the whole thing did not seem genuine. How much were these children really directly affected? From what I read and saw, the pictures and messages were nothing short of what I experienced, which was honestly not much.

9/11 will always mean different things to different individuals. As I child, I was not directly affected, but there were those (adults and children) who lost friends and family that day. While there have been artistic portrayals of the event, not all have been successful, because not all are genuine, not all reach out emotionally to their audiences.

Hello there, everyone! Today, I want to discuss a serious issue, which is the tragic 9/11 event, with all of you. I remember my 9/11 experience vividly, even though this traumatic event occurred over a decade ago. I recall being in front of my large “60 inch” television screen, watching the footage of the first plane, and eventually the second plane, crashing into the two monumental buildings. At that moment, I was with my brother and mom, getting ready for school. Due to my naivete at that young age, I could not comprehend what had just occurred. The only thought that occurred to me was “Is Daddy, okay?” because I knew he worked in the city. I also remember my mom’s worried expression, rapidly dialing the numbers on the home telephone with her nimble fingers. Fortunately, my dad was safe from harm and far from the disastrous event at that time. Next, I could see the billowing dark clouds of smoke engulfing the very atmosphere of the earth in front of the television screen. At that time, I was just hoping everyone would be all right.

Now that many years have passed and I am more knowledgeable about the 9/11 tragedy, I want to use this opportunity to reflect upon this unfortunate incident. That day over 3000 thousand innocent lives were lost, including our tenant’s son. I was heartbroken when I found out that our friendly tenant had lost his one and only son amidst this distressing event. Even though this event did not impact me as severely as other individuals, I can imagine vicariously their pain and deep grief over the loss of a loved one. Who knew such an unexpected occurrence would transpire? I’m just glad everyone in my family was fine, but I greatly feel sorry for those who actually lost someone dear to them. It truly causes me much agony to see the unrelenting tears and the extreme destruction that was caused that day. The Twin Towers, one of the powerful financial symbols of this nation, completely obliterated… While viewing Fahrenheit 9/11 and my own research, I grasped a clearer understanding of why 9/11 took place. Yes, the lives of over 3000 civilians had perished in the deadly attack, but we were at fault, too. My feelings towards this event are ambivalent. I definitely sympathize with the families that had to witness their loved ones pass away in front of them and understood the immoral deeds done upon this nation. Nevertheless, why does a country as powerful as the United States have to interfere in the status quo of other foreign nations? Maybe if we were not so nosy, a tragedy such as this could have been precluded.

I am in accordance with the fact that Michael Moore may have criticized George W. Bush severely, but I think that President Bush should have been more decisive about his actions. In my opinion, I just feel that President Bush worsened the situation. For instance, he foolishly and incorrectly came to the conclusion that Iraq was in possession of nuclear weapons, and decided to drop bombs on the country. Little did he know that Saudi Arabia was the main cause of this event, not Iraq. Thus, even more innocent people died and many families suffered. I mean for goodness sake, the man (President Bush) can barely pronounce the word “nuclear.” I do not mean to be so harsh, but President Bush should have at least thought twice before coming to a final decision.

After 9/11, I think most people’s perceptions of New York changed. For example, many people thought security measures should be more strictly enforced (as seen from the Patriot Act) and that the people of New York felt more united than once before (more supportive of a war on terrorism). 9/11 made New Yorkers realize that the unexpected can happen at any given moment and racial stereotypes were wrongly made about all Muslims being terrorists. Essentially, this event caused the people of New York to fear traveling by plane due to risk of another terrorist attack. I believe that while 9/11 may have had more of a direct impact on the people of New York, it also affected the people who do not live there. Individuals outside of New York may have had family members in New York that suffered from the event and they also understood the loss of a “big symbol” of this country. Just because we are far apart from the event doesn’t mean we can’t feel the pain of others.

Moreover, I agree with Rui Yan’s comment about 9/11 being a part of history and that it should not be portrayed as art. I feel that the works of an artist can definitely arouse memories of the event and enable us to ponder the severity of it. However, I believe that artists cannot depict the actual traumatic experience that the people have viewed with their own eyes. When someone actually witnesses such a tragic event occur in front of them, an indelible mark is left upon them. Viewing the 9/11 event via art will cause emotions to rise within us, but the sentiments we experience on the day of the event are different because the images are so lucid in our memory. Overall, I just feel that the work of these artists gives us the chance to remember that such an event had occurred. Just like any other major historical event, 9/11 will continue to be passed on for the generations to come as a depressing and shocking day for many.

Life can be very volatile at times and who knows what may happen the next minute or even second. It’s important to be prepared for what lies ahead in the future and I just hope that a horrible event, such as 9/11, never happens again. When I watch the videos of people mourning over the loss of those they lost that day, a sudden pain strikes my heart. Like everyone else, I wished this event had not taken place. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Now that we are a more modernized country, I hope that whatever decisions that are made in the future are the right ones, for even the smallest of decisions can have drastic consequences.