Cultural influence of the September 11 attacks

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The aftermath of the September 11 attacks caused many Americans to embrace patriotism to extreme lengths. American Flag on Home Flag Pole.jpg
The aftermath of the September 11 attacks caused many Americans to embrace patriotism to extreme lengths.

The cultural influence of the September 11 attacks (9/11) was profound and lasted nearly two decades. The impact of 9/11 extended well beyond geopolitics, spilling into society and culture in general. Many Americans began to identify a "pre-9/11" world and a "post-9/11" world as separable worlds. This created the feeling that the attacks put an end the peacetime prosperity that dominated American life up to that point. Prominent social issues at the time, such as the public discourse in the wake of the Columbine High School massacre, became overshadowed by the attacks. Following 9/11, the attention of most Americans shifted from domestic issues towards terrorism abroad.

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Immediate responses to 9/11 included greater focus on home life and time spent with family, higher church attendance, and increased expressions of patriotism such as the flying of American flags. [1] The radio industry responded by removing certain songs from playlists, and the attacks have subsequently been used as background, narrative or thematic elements in film, television, music, and literature.

Already-running television shows, as well as programs developed after 9/11, have reflected post-9/11 cultural concerns. [2] 9/11 conspiracy theories have become social phenomena, despite lack of support from scientists, engineers, and historians. [3] 9/11 has also had a major impact on the religious faith of many individuals; for some it strengthened, to find consolation to cope with the loss of loved ones and overcome their grief; others started to question their faith or lost it entirely, because they could not reconcile it with their view of religion. [4] [5]

The culture of the United States succeeding the attacks is noted for heightened security and an increased demand thereof, as well as paranoia and anxiety regarding future terrorist attacks that includes most of the nation. Psychologists have also confirmed that there has been an increased amount of national anxiety in commercial air travel. [6]

Due to the significance of the attacks, media coverage was extensive (including disturbing pictures and live video) and prolonged discourse about the attacks in general, resulting in iconography and greater meaning associated with the event. Don DeLillo called it "the defining event of our time".[ citation needed ] The attacks spawned a number of catchphrases, terms, and slogans, many of which continue to be used more than a decade later.

One of the most well-known references and events of the 9/11 attacks is President George W. Bush's response to the situation while visiting students at Emma E. Booker Elementary in Sarasota, Florida. Chief of Staff Andy Card approached Bush and whispered in his ear while the president was addressing the children. Bush requested a moment of silence. He claimed he did not want to 'rattle the kids' and continued on with his visit. [7] [8]

Media response

Through numerous reproductions in mass media and popular culture, the attacks have an important cultural meaning for many people: "The attacks percolate as a central theme or historical backdrop in countless works of art, which bear witness to the complexity of 9/11 as historical, political, and media event, and contribute to the negotiation of its cultural meaning." [9] Regarding the attacks of 9/11 and Pearl Harbor Arthur G. Neal said:

"We create the world through our perceptions of it and seek to maintain area with world in a manner consistent with our beliefs about it. It is through such symbolic constructions that we are provided with usable frameworks for shaping our memories and organizing them into coherent systems of meaning." [10]

Depictions of the World Trade Center

After the September 11 attacks, some movies and TV shows deleted scenes or episodes set within the World Trade Center. [11] [12] [13] [14] For example, The Simpsons episode "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson", which first aired in 1997, was removed from syndication after the attacks because a large portion of the episode took place at and inside World Trade Center. [15] Songs that mentioned the World Trade Center were no longer aired on radio, and the release dates of some films, such as the 2002 films Sidewalks of New York; People I Know; and Spider-Man, were delayed so producers could remove scenes that included the World Trade Center. [11] [16] The 2001 film Kissing Jessica Stein , which was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival the day before the attacks, had to be modified before its general public release so the filmmakers could delete scenes that depicted the World Trade Center. [11]

Other episodes and films mentioned the attacks directly, or depicted the World Trade Center in alternate contexts. [12] The production of some family-oriented films was also sped up due to a large demand for that genre following the attacks. Demand for horror and action films decreased, but within a short time demand returned to normal. [14] By the first anniversary of the attacks, over sixty "memorial films" had been created. [17] Filmmakers were criticized for removing scenes related to the World Trade Center. Rita Kempley of The Washington Post said "if we erase the towers from our art, we erase it[ sic ] from our memories". [18] Author Donald Langmead compared the phenomenon to the 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four , where historic mentions of events are retroactively "rectified". [19] Other filmmakers such as Michael Bay, who directed the 1998 film Armageddon , opposed retroactively removing references to the World Trade Center based on post-9/11 attitudes. [11]

Oliver Stone's film World Trade Center —the first movie that specifically examined the effects of the attacks on the World Trade Center, as contrasted with the effects elsewhere—was released in 2006. [19] Several years after the attacks, works such as "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson" were placed back in syndication. The National September 11 Museum has preserved many of the works that feature depictions of the original World Trade Center. [11] Hip-Hop group The Coup’s 4th studio album, called “Party Music,” briefly stopped production after the attacks because it depicted them “blowing up” the Twin Towers. They would later change the cover art to a wine glass.

Influence on comic books

American comic books have always carried patriotic tones, especially during the Cold War—perhaps the most notable example is the character Captain America. 9/11 shifted the political climate and with it re-centered the public's attention on Muslims. Perhaps the most mainstream example of the influence 9/11 had on comic books is Iron Man, who was previously an anti-communist crusader; his canon was rewritten in comics after 9/11 and in the widely popular 2008 film Iron Man . In the film, billionaire Tony Stark learns his weapons were sold without his knowledge to various terrorist groups after he was kidnapped and tortured in Afghanistan. [20]

Symbolism

The September 11 attacks gained an iconographic meaning. This was due to the fact that the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City were portrayed as symbolic buildings representing American financial power, and the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia was portrayed as a symbolic building representing American military power. Backed up by the media and literature, many people see 9/11 as an attack on the economic and military power of America. [21] Furthermore, the attacks are often pictured as a symbol for an era of war and terrorism.

Jargon inspired by 9/11

Nine-eleven or 9/11
A term coming from the typical U.S. date notation and the date September 11. The practice of referring to ominous dates through this shorthand has continued, for example, with 7/7 for the 2005 London bombings and 1/6 or January 6 for the 2021 United States Capitol attack. [22] [23] [24] Even in English-speaking countries which typically use a different date format to the U.S. "month/day/year", the event is still commonly referred to as "Nine-eleven". For example, "Nine-eleven" will tend to be used in everyday speech in the United Kingdom, despite how British people would otherwise write September 11 as "11/9".
Pre-9/11 and Post-9/11
Terms used to describe the period of time and the state of the world before and after the attack, regarding 9/11 as an epoch. They are often used to denote foreign policy and domestic security measures as they existed before or after the attacks.
Ground Zero
Ground zero is a generic term for the point on the Earth's surface closest to a detonation. Capitalized, it is shorthand for the World Trade Center site; used, for example, in "Ground Zero mosque", a pejorative for the Cordoba House or Park51 Islamic center.
The Bathtub
The excavated foundations of the World Trade Center. Although not a new term, it gained prominence during rescue, cleanup, and ongoing reconstruction efforts. [25]
The Pile
The rubble of the collapsed World Trade Center. [26] [27] [28]
Jumper
A jumper is someone who commits suicide by jumping from a height. It is unclear which of the "jumpers" seen falling from the WTC had jumped and which fell while trying to climb to safety. The medical examiner's office ruled homicide for all bodies, unable to distinguish jumpers from those who died inside the towers. [29] "The Falling Man" is an iconic photograph of a jumper.
"Let's roll"
Reported to have been uttered by Flight 93 passenger Todd Beamer shortly before he and fellow passengers apparently rushed the cockpit. [30]
FPCON Delta
The highest state of terrorist alert issued by the U.S. Armed Forces.

Media slogans

Various slogans and captions were employed by media outlets to brand coverage of the September 11 terrorist attack, its aftereffects, and the U.S. government's response. The slogans for American media were typically positioned on the bottom third of television broadcasts, or as banners across the top of newspaper pages. Designs typically incorporated a patriotic red, white, and blue motif, along with an explicit graphic of the American flag. Examples include:

U.S. government terms

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rescue and recovery effort after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center</span>

The September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center elicited a large response of local emergency and rescue personnel to assist in the evacuation of the two towers, resulting in a large loss of the same personnel when the towers collapsed. After the attacks, the media termed the World Trade Center site "Ground Zero", while rescue personnel referred to it as "the Pile".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline for the day of the September 11 attacks</span> Events of 9/11/2001

The September 11 attacks of 2001, in addition to being a unique act of terrorism, constituted a media event on a scale not seen since the advent of civilian global satellite links. Instant worldwide reaction and debate were made possible by round-the-clock television news organizations and by the internet. As a result, most of the events listed below were known by a large portion of the world's population as they occurred.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aftermath of the September 11 attacks</span> Effects and subsequent events of the September 11 attacks

The September 11 attacks transformed the first term of President George W. Bush and led to what he referred to as the war on terror. The accuracy of describing it as a "war" and its political motivations and consequences are the topic of strenuous debate. The U.S. government increased military operations, economic measures, and political pressure on groups that it accused of being terrorists, as well as increasing pressure on the governments and countries which were accused of sheltering them. October 2001 saw the first military action initiated by the US. Under this policy, NATO invaded Afghanistan to remove the Taliban regime and capture al-Qaeda forces.

The post-9/11 period is the time after the September 11 attacks, characterized by heightened suspicion of non-Americans in the United States, increased government efforts to address terrorism, and a more aggressive American foreign policy.

<i>DC 9/11: Time of Crisis</i> 2003 American TV series or program

DC 9/11: Time of Crisis is a 2003 docudrama television movie which re-enacts the events of the September 11 attacks in 2001 as seen from the point of view of the President of the United States and his staff. It was directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith and starred Timothy Bottoms as President George W. Bush.

<i>The Falling Man</i> Photograph from 9/11 attacks taken by Richard Drew

The Falling Man is a photograph taken by Associated Press photographer Richard Drew of a man falling from the World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks in New York City. The unidentified man in the image was trapped on the upper floors of the North Tower, and it is unclear whether he fell while searching for safety or he jumped to escape the fire and smoke. The photograph was taken at 9:41:15 A.M.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">September 11 attacks</span> 2001 Islamist terror attacks in the United States

The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. On that Tuesday morning, 19 terrorists organized into 4 teams hijacked four commercial airliners scheduled to travel from the East Coast to California. The first two teams of hijackers crashed the first two planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, while the remaining hijackers aimed the next two flights toward targets in or near Washington, D.C., in an attack on the nation's capital. The third team succeeded in striking the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense in Arlington County, Virginia, while the fourth plane hijacked by the fourth team crashed in rural Pennsylvania during a passenger revolt. The September 11 attacks killed 2,977 people, making it the deadliest terrorist attack in history. In response to the attacks, the United States waged the multi-decade global war on terror to eliminate hostile groups deemed terrorist organizations, as well as the foreign governments purported to support them, in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and several other countries.

The following list contains dates beyond October 2001 involving the September 11 attacks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2002 State of the Union Address</span> Speech by US president George W. Bush

The 2002 State of the Union Address was given by the 43rd president of the United States, George W. Bush, on January 29, 2002, at 9:00 p.m. EST, in the chamber of the United States House of Representatives to the 107th United States Congress. It was Bush's first State of the Union Address and his second speech to a joint session of the United States Congress. Presiding over this joint session was the House speaker, Dennis Hastert, accompanied by Dick Cheney, the vice president, in his capacity as the president of the Senate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rudy Giuliani during the September 11 attacks</span> Role played by Mayor Giuliani

As Mayor of New York City on September 11, 2001, Rudy Giuliani played a major role in the immediate response to the terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center towers in the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">War on terror</span> Military campaign following 9/11 attacks

The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is a global counterterrorist military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks of 2001, and is the most recent global conflict spanning multiple wars. Some researchers and political scientists have argued that it replaced the Cold War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Casualties of the September 11 attacks</span>

The September 11 attacks were the deadliest terrorist attacks in human history, causing the deaths of 2,996 people, including 2,977 victims and 19 hijackers who committed murder–suicide. Thousands more were injured, and long-term health effects have arisen as a consequence of the attacks. New York City took the brunt of the death toll when the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan were attacked, with an estimated 1,600 victims from the North Tower and around a thousand from the South Tower. Two hundred miles southwest in Arlington County, Virginia, another 125 were killed in the Pentagon. The remaining 265 fatalities included the ninety-two passengers and crew of American Airlines Flight 11, the sixty-five aboard United Airlines Flight 175, the sixty-four on American Airlines Flight 77 and the forty-four who boarded United Airlines Flight 93. The attack on the World Trade Center's North Tower alone made the September 11 attacks the deadliest act of terrorism in human history.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the September 11 attacks and their consequences:

The September 11 attacks were a series of terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda against the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, in which nearly 3,000 people were killed. Jokes based on the events have been made in print and other media since soon after the attacks took place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Trade Center (1973–2001)</span> Former development in Manhattan, New York

The original World Trade Center (WTC) was a complex of seven buildings in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Built primarily between 1966 and 1975, it was dedicated on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed during the September 11 attacks in 2001. At the time of their completion, the 110-story-tall Twin Towers, including the original 1 World Trade Center at 1,368 feet (417 m), and 2 World Trade Center at 1,362 feet (415.1 m), were the tallest buildings in the world. Other buildings in the complex included the Marriott World Trade Center, 4 WTC, 5 WTC, 6 WTC, and 7 WTC. The complex contained 13,400,000 square feet (1,240,000 m2) of office space and, prior to its completion, was projected to accommodate an estimated 130,000 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1993 World Trade Center bombing</span> Terrorist truck attack in New York City

The 1993 World Trade Center bombing was a terrorist attack carried out by Al-Qaeda against the United States on February 26, 1993, when a van bomb detonated below the North Tower of the World Trade Center complex in New York City. The 1,336 lb (606 kg) urea nitrate–hydrogen gas enhanced device was intended to make the North Tower collapse onto the South Tower, taking down both skyscrapers and killing tens of thousands of people. While it failed to do so, it killed six people, including a pregnant woman, and caused over a thousand injuries. About 50,000 people were evacuated from the buildings that day.

This is an index of articles related to the September 11 attacks, which occurred on September 11, 2001.

References

  1. ↑ Bernardo J. Carducci (February 20, 2009). The Psychology: Viewpoints, Research, and Applications. Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 200–. ISBN   978-1-4051-3635-8 . Retrieved January 16, 2012.
  2. ↑ Quay, Sara; Damico, Amy (September 14, 2010). September 11 in Popular Culture: A Guide. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN   978-0-313-35505-9.
  3. ↑ Norman, Joshua (September 11, 2011). "9/11 conspiracy theories won't stop". CBS News. CBS Corporation.
  4. ↑ Huffington Post (August 29, 2011). "After 9/11, Some Run Toward Faith, Some Run The Other Way" . Retrieved April 6, 2013.
  5. ↑ PBS Frontline. "Faith and Doubt at Ground Zero – The Question of God" . Retrieved April 6, 2013.
  6. ↑ Brad Schmidt, Ph.D. "Anxiety After 9/11" . Retrieved October 11, 2013.
  7. ↑ "'I don't want to rattle the kids': The moment George W Bush learned 9/11 had happened".
  8. ↑ "Remembering 9/11: Student recalls day President Bush came to his Sarasota elementary school". September 10, 2021.
  9. ↑ Bauder-Begerow, Irina; Stefanie Schäfer. "Learning 9/11." Learning 9/11. Ed. Bauder-Begerow, Irina; Stefanie Schäfer. Memmingen: Winter Verlag, 2011. ISBN   978-3-8253-5941-6
  10. ↑ Neal, Arthur G. National Trauma and Collective Memory: Extraordinary Events in the American Experience. M.E. Sharpe: London, 2005. ISBN   978-0765615824
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Mashberg, Tom (September 10, 2019). "After Sept. 11, Twin Towers Onscreen Are a Tribute and a Painful Reminder". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  12. 1 2 Bahr, Lindsay (January 21, 2013). "Television's uneasy relationship with the World Trade Center". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on February 26, 2018. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
  13. ↑ Lemire, Christy (September 13, 2011). "Twin towers erased from some films after 9/11". Today.com. NBC News. Archived from the original on November 9, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  14. 1 2 Dixon (2004), p. 4.
  15. ↑ Snierson, Dan (March 27, 2011). "'Simpsons' exec producer Al Jean: 'I completely understand' if reruns with nuclear jokes are pulled". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on July 8, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  16. ↑ Langmead (2009), p. 354.
  17. ↑ Dixon (2004), p. 5.
  18. ↑ Kempley, Rita (May 10, 2002). "The unusual suspects". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on March 1, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  19. 1 2 Langmead (2009), p. 355.
  20. ↑ Pumphrey, N 2016, 'Avenger, Mutant, or Allah: A Short Evolution of the Depiction of Muslims in Marvel Comics', Muslim World, 106, 4, pp. 781-794, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed November 16, 2017
  21. ↑ Hartwig, Marcel. Die Traumatisierte Nation?. Transcript Verlag: Bielefeld, 2011. ISBN   978-3-8376-1742-9
  22. ↑ "nine-eleven - Bing Images". Bing .
  23. ↑ "Nine Eleven". Archived from the original on November 7, 2015.
  24. ↑ "National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States".
  25. ↑ Andrew Tarantola (September 7, 2011). "How New York City Built a Massive $3.8 Billion Underground Transit Station in the WTC's Footprints". Gizmodo. Gawker Media.
  26. ↑ ABC News. "The Pit and The Pile: Ground Zero Is Gone". ABC News.
  27. ↑ Safire, William (November 11, 2001). "The Way We Live Now: 11-11-01: On Language; Ground Zero". The New York Times.
  28. ↑ "Ex-NYPD officers remember "the pile"". PoliceOne.
  29. ↑ Cauchon, Dennis; Martha Moore (September 2, 2002). "Desperation forced a horrific decision". USA Today . Retrieved November 20, 2012.
  30. ↑ McKinnon, Jim (September 16, 2001). "The phone line from Flight 93 was still open when a GTE operator heard Todd Beamer say: 'Are you guys ready? Let's roll'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on December 25, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
  31. ↑ Eric Schmitt; Thom Shanker (July 26, 2005). "U.S. Officials Retool Slogan for Terror War". The New York Times . Retrieved January 8, 2015.

Bibliography

Further reading

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