Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Falling_Man#Documentary_film
“The
Falling Man” remains one of the most powerful images of the 21st
century. It is a standout among all of the images and videos captured on
September 11th, 2001, one of the most visually documented days in
human history. Of all the horrors that the nation was forced to confront that
day, the images and videos of the roughly 200 people who fell or jumped to
their deaths have proven to be too much for the American people to stomach. These
jumpers were the only visible fatalities of an event that claimed almost 3000
lives, and embodied the desperation of those trapped alive above the crash
zone. Most live television broadcasts at the time chose not to show images of
the bodies falling from the towers due to their graphic nature.
However, Richard
Drew, a photographer with the Associated Press, continued to take pictures of
the jumpers and captured one of the most controversial and striking
images of the September 11th attacks. He shot a twelve-image
sequence of a man falling to his death. “The Falling Man” depicts a man falling
head first with his left knee slightly bent. His body is parallel to the lines
of the buildings and the perspective places him right between the north and
south towers. The composure and stillness of the subject suggests a sense of calm
and acceptance that he was able to embrace in his final moments. The image
forces the viewer to contemplate the horrific choice that the photograph’s
subject had to make, to die of burns and smoke inhalation or a fall to a
certain death. It is extremely unsettling, and has been compared to other
photographs that depict the last seconds of a person’s life, such as Eddie
Adam’s famous image of assassination in Vietnam. These types of images, while
hard to look at, contain a certain truth unrivaled by other forms of
communication.
The morning of
September 12th, many newspapers, including the New York Times, ran
the image as part of their coverage of the day’s events. Readers overwhelmingly
responded in anger and disgust saying that the image was in poor taste. Some said
the press exploited this man’s death in a voyeuristic fashion. Papers immediately
discontinued using the image as part of self-censorship campaigns in the
American media following the September 11th attacks, such as the
2001 Clear Channel memorandum which forbid certain “lyrically questionable”
songs including Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin” and Third Eye Blind's "Jumper". Video and audio clips used in 9/11
coverage and documentaries omitted scenes of the jumpers. In Tom Junod’s excellent
article in Esquire he states:
In a nation of
voyeurs, the desire to face the most disturbing aspects of our most disturbing
day was somehow ascribed to voyeurism, as thought the jumper’s experience,
instead of being central to the horror, was tangential to it, a sideshow best
forgotten.
To this day images of that recall
‘The Falling Man” or other images of jumpers are met with criticism. Such as Eric Fischl's "Tumbling Woman" meant
to commemorate the jumpers, or even the poster for season 5 of AMC’s Mad Men.
Retrieved from http://www.ericfischl.com/html/en/public/tumbling/TW_03.html
Retrieved from http://www.esquire.com/the-side/feature/falling-mad-man-6648672
News agencies chose instead to run photographs of the rescue efforts of New York
City’s Police and Fire Departments. These were images the public could accept
and rally around. They represented American resilience and defiance, while “The
Falling Man” could be read as symbolizing capitulation when faced with
insurmountable odds. According to the New York City Coroner’s office all of the
deaths in the twin towers were deemed homicides. "A 'jumper' is somebody who goes to the
office in the morning knowing that they will commit suicide… These people were
forced out by the smoke and flames or blown out." (USAToday) To
acknowledge that the jumpers chose death is antithetical to the heroism
associated with 9/11. The way in which those people died is an uncomfortable
truth that many Americans and the media have chosen not to talk about. The
image represents the fate of these individuals and the American public’s
reluctance to accept it. The image doesn’t insult the memory of those who chose
an alternate way out, but forces the world to recognize their experience.
Numerous attempts
have been made to identify the falling man, but to this day the evidence remains
inconclusive. This only enhances the power of the image as it stands for not
only those who jumped, but everyone who lost their life in the September 11th
attacks. The photograph can be compared to the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, an anonymous one who stands for the many.
Reference:
Cauchon, Dennis and Moore, Martha, Desperation
forced a horrific decision. Retrieved
April 9, 2013 from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/sept11/2002-09-02-jumper_x.htm
Junod, Tom. The Falling Man. Retrieved on April 9,
2013 from http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0903-SEP_FALLINGMAN
Singer, Henry (Director). (2006). The
Falling Man [Film]. UK
No comments:
Post a Comment