PBS TV -- The Center of the World (a WTC history)

The Stanford Advocate ^ | 9/4/2003 | FRAZIER MOORE

[risk]

NEW YORK -- For many of us, the World Trade Center has existed in two states. It was there. Then it was taken from us.

There is much more to the story of the Twin Towers, as viewers will find in "The Center of the World," premiering 9 p.m. EDT Monday on PBS (check local listings).

In this three-hour "American Experience" documentary, filmmaker Ric Burns explores why, in their absence, they command an inescapable presence in our lives. But he also reaches back nearly a half-century to tell the little-known saga of how the buildings came to be.

[risk]

More about the film The Center of the World - New York: A Documentary Film

The eighth episode of filmmaker Ric Burns' award-winning series New York: A Documentary Film examines the rise and fall of the World Trade Center -- from its conception in the post-World War II economic boom, through its controversial construction in the 1960s and 1970s, to its tragic demise in the fall of 2001 and extraordinary response of the city in its aftermath.

The film presents rare archival footage, including excerpts from Another Day Downtown, a documentary about lower Manhattan not seen since its initial airing in the early 1960s; never-before-seen footage of the World Trade Center's architect, Minoru Yamasaki, at work on the project's design in 1962; and extensive interviews with commentators and experts including Guy Tozzoli and Leslie Robertson, the Trade Center's project manager and structural engineer, respectively, who recount firsthand their experience with the project's life and death.

Joining them are many of the people who helped make sense of 400 years of New York's history in the first seven episodes of New York: A Documentary Film -- Pete Hamill, Mike Wallace, Robert A. M. Stern and Ada Louise Huxtable among them. The film explores the urban, economic, architectural and symbolic significance of the great towers, their horrific demise, and the ongoing effort to come to terms with their loss.

Additional funding provided by Newman's Own, the Robert S. Kaplan Foundation, and the MCJ Foundation.

Film Description
A synopsis of the film, plus film credits.

Transcript
The program transcript.

Primary Sources
Some of New York's best-known writers describe their city.

Further Reading
A list of books, articles, and Web sites relating to the program topic.

Acknowledgements
Program interviewees and consultants.

 

[risk]

Initial review: a discouraging film outlining all the reasons why Vietnam era America shouldn't have built the WTC, a monument to our gross banality.

No mention of the Islamic motifs in Yamasaki's design, showcased here: http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/World_Trade_Center.html
The Islamic connection is mentioned here: see http://www.rotten.com/library/history/wtc/
and here: http://www.crosscurrents.org/Gardner2002.htm

My reaction: the peaceniks said we couldn't win the cold war, we shouldn't have fought in Vietnam, we shouldn't have gone to space, the crashes of our space shuttles are giving us a warning, and we never should have built the WTC. And of course: we shouldn't rebuild it, either.

I say the hell with them.

[risk]

ping

[ChiefKujo]

I still remember when my father, who worked for Otis Elevator at the time, took me up to the roof of one the then unfinished towers during a work day and we ate a peperoni and onion pizza in the sun.

[cyclotic]

I saw a couple of hours of it last night. Back when it was being built, the steelworkers ran, I mean RAN toward a bunch of anti's protesting the war in Vietnam and beat them silly. I was actually feeling proud seeing archival film of a bunch of hardhats mixing it up with these losers, and obviously winning. Then, they showed the footage of the planes hitting and people falling and the towers collapsing. Now I'm mad again. It's a good and sustained mad. I'm also quite satisfied that we "lit up their world like the 4th of July" in response to the attack. Based solely on that, it was worth seeing.

[Clemenza]

Since you mentioned the workers, it should also be noted that on the WTC, like other structures of its type, was built with labor from the Mohawk Indians from upstate New York, who have traditionally done the high beam work in this city. These guys used to come in during the week to work and then drive 12 hours back to the reservation every weekend.

[m1911]

"For many of us, the World Trade Center has existed in two states. It was there. Then it was taken from us."

That is the stupidest opening line to an article I can imagine.

[Question_Assumptions]

There were some cheap shots at Bush and some leftist comments but it was, for the most part, an excellent show. Mario Cuomo, of all people, said some good things very well.

[risk]

Yes, that seeing the workers trounce the anti-war protesteres was the best moment of the film for me, too. And we did light up the Taliban's world. Then we lit up Saddam's world just in case. But I wish we had kept going. East, west, Syria, Iran, Pakistan. I keep wondering if it's time to go nuclear on their strongholds of hate and nuclear R&D. Today, I'm not nearly satisfied in my craving for revenge, maybe I never can be. People who can do what they did on 9/11 makes me want to chase them down to the ends of the earth. We're just getting started, as far as I'm concerned.

[risk]

I really appreciate hearing from someone whose father was a builder of that magnificent project. I'm sure you'll never forget being there on the bare steel.

[risk]

Afaiac, PBS IS BLAMING US FOR 9/11...

Indeed:

And yet -- in ways that would become fully apparent only in hindsight -- by the dawn of the twenty-first century New York had also emerged as one of the most strangely paradoxical cities on earth -- at once bewilderingly diverse and cosmopolitan -- and yet in many ways, surprisingly insular and inward-looking -- as if the process of globalization had mainly meant gathering in the world's peoples and riches -- without involvement in the world's deep conflicts and divisions.

I was seething less than a minute after the film started. They spoke ill of the dead, their comments denigrating Manoru Yamasaki's genius were racist, and their comments oozed of postmodern surrender. They've had their day in the sun. I'm personally never going to forget the utter disgust I felt at hearing them rip apart the WTC project in my living room. They kept quoting Ada Louise Huxtable, who clearly didn't want it built from the start. Photographer Camilo José Vergara was incapable of appreciating anything the victors of WWII might have undertaken. Paul Goldberger was the worst, snivelling and belittling the underpinnings of the entire project.

I'm sure these people are doing their best to make sure that it isn't rebuilt.

Transcript

[1Old Pro]

That point is devoted to Philippe Petit. He was the 24-year-old Frenchman who, on the morning of Aug. 7, 1974, after years of planning it, took a surprise 45-minute stroll back and forth across the cable he had strung, undetected overnight, between the towers' roofs.

Talk about security lapses....

[risk]

Philippe Petit is subversive in the nicest of ways. He is probably the world's most articulate fan of the World Trade Center. If I could have, I would personally track down and kill every one of the 19 hijackers -- had they survived, just because of what they did to this guy on 9/11.

Savages.

[_Jim]

I was seething less than a minute after the film started. They spoke ill of the dead, their comments denigrating Manoru Yamasaki's genius were racist, and their comments oozed of postmodern surrender.

Drat.

I missed that part as I tuned in late.

Overall, aways into this 'piece' I wasn't to put-off by the commentary - I rolled my eyes a few times during the pontificating of Mario 'the pious' Cuomo, but, to their credit they DID cover/show the jets impacting the building AND people jumping/falling as well (HAVEN'T seen that from too many sources) ... uncharacteristically realistic if their goal was to 'paper over' this event ...

[nutmeg]

bump

[nutmeg]

So this is the conclusion to Ric Burns' New York series. Geesh, after reading your posts here, I think I would have to be restrained from throwing my TV out the window also!

Thanks for the ping... I'll ping the list.