December 02, 2003

• This article is giving me goosebumps. Esquire prints some fantastic stories.
• Ugh. I read it when it came out in September and it ties me up in knots. Thank god someone's writing it though.
• Yeah, it took me five times to actually get through the article when I read it in print. Hard to finish (or even start), but well worth the effort.
• I've never seen that picture. It's one of the most terribly beautiful things I've ever seen. Thank you.
• Finding art in someone's desperate death? Artistic glorification of basic human rubbernecking instincts.
• I've seen the footage - well, I suppose almost everyone has by now - of the firemen inside the tower before collapsing, that was filmed by a guy making a documentary about a new firefighter. The only part I remember clearly now is when the firefighters are in a glassed-in foyer and all you can hear in the near silence is the loud thump of people hitting the roof above them or the ground outside. It's horrifying. I like the fact that this article turns something so awful into something vaguely heroic by describing the grace and acceptance of this individual. I don't see the photo as art by any means, but I do appreciate the article itself.
• I often wondered if I would have jumped. I'm horribly afraid of heights, but a jet fuel fire might have been enough insentive. Either way, I don't think I could have gone to my fate with the acceptance and grace of the man in the photo. I think one of the most disillusioning things about the aftermath of the WTC attacks is that for one moment we had that sense of empathy for each other and a very intimate connection through tragedy, and it seems like we've lost it. I feel that loss deeply. Call it art or not (I personally think it is), but what those people had to go through was amazing and unthinkable. This article is a tribute to them and to those of us who were touched by it.
• My God, that was a magnificently written article, but I'd give anything not to have seen the photo -especially without warning.
• I tried to read this article, but can't. I'm not sure I want to. I came up out of the Church Street subway across the street from the WTC after the first plane hit. I thought it was a fire. We stood there, a few hundred of us, in the middle of Church street, looking up, gasping as each new body fell. "That's never the answer," someone near me said. I turned to walk away, not wanting to see anymore. The second plane hit as I turned. We all ran, looking at the fireball over our shoulders. I have a very hard time, still, with images like the one in this article. It's not art. This person did not fall with acceptance and grace. He or she had probably blacked out by the time this photo was taken. To strip the context of what happened, to remove the terror and hopelessness this HUMAN BEING felt that caused them to rush to their death and to consider this as "art" is obscene. They jumped because they had no choice; they had no hope. Pardon my knee jerk reaction — admittedly I haven't read the article — but it seems very distasteful to me. That picture has been printed more than often enough for my taste. I'll try and read the article again later.
• Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I can't even tell you how sorry I am that you had to witness that. The thought of actually being there makes me want to throw up. I know that if I had, I wouldn't want to read the article either. I think that if you did though, you'd be less upset about what was said here and understand we're all trying to make some kind of sense out of what happened. No one here fails to recognize the enormity of what those people faced. And the article really was a tribute.
• Certainsome1: Living 3,000 miles away and watching on TV that morning, I cannot presume to know or understand your connection. However, I would encourage you to try to read the article. The author doesn't claim the photo is art, only that the one image is a coincidence of lines. As the article progresses, he searches for the identity of the man who fell to bring us confirmation the humanity of the man. That the man is still not identifed seems to represent all who fell. It is a terrible reminder of a terrible day, but sometimes for those of us who weren't there and didn't experience it first hand, a terrible reminder helps us to remember it wasn't an 'event', it was real lives and real families. All the best.
• I personally don't find any enjoyment in articles like this one. It's the kind that want to take an ugly and gruesome thing and use it as a tool to "Remember that day" and whatnot. Why must we be constantly baraded by these images in order to remember a tragedy? It's like the Catholic Churches back in the Gothic period constantly shoving images down your throat about hell, satan, and death so you will be more willing to work towards your salvation. I remember 9/11, I won't forget. But I don't want to dwell on it either. And just IMO, that was not art.
• Excellent summary, Scott.
• So, I read the piece last night and it's well done for what it is; certainly well-written. Although, aside from making emotions that I thought had long-since faded in intensity rise up and overwhelm me again, it didn't seem to have much of a point, and borders on exploitation to me. Scott, your point is well taken that reminders are necessary, especially for those who weren't here. Again, sorry I jumped off the handle. Thanks for letting me.
• Keep- Moving.
• Now we're talking.