‘United 93’: A hard flight for Americans to take

Tacoma News Tribune Editorial ^ | 5/7/06 | Tacoma News Tribune

[Ramius]

I agree.

[donna]

It's a story that needs to be told, and it was done just right in this film.

Then why didn't they show the vote?

Because the director needed to retain the balance between the terrorists and the passengers. Showing Americans voting and making decisions while being terrorized would favor us - and make the terrorists look evil. It would not sell overseas.

[Dominic Harr]

You mean, like, Democrats?

I *did* say "stupid people" -- so obviously like Democrats!

:-D

[Ramius]

Then why didn't they show the vote?

Huh? You're hung up on the mechanics of a vote? There's no way to know precisely how that was done. They did show a great deal of the argument, discussion and eventual decision to act. That's what the whole thing was about. I don't see how that could be your big problem.

[donna]

I don't see how that could be your big problem.

Oh, maybe because our freedom of self government is the very thing the terrorists want to take from us?

[Ramius]

They did decide as a group to fight back. You're mad because they didn't show them using ballots?

[donna]

Post #122:

Then why didn't they show the vote?

Because the director needed to retain the balance between the terrorists and the passengers. Showing Americans voting and making decisions while being terrorized would favor us - and make the terrorists look evil. It would not sell overseas.

[PISANO]

Unbelievable! I cannot even comment on this inane statement. Geeeeeeze!

I agree........such a shock to this bozo.......that the 'TRUTH HURTS'!!

[Ramius]

Because the director needed to retain the balance between the terrorists and the passengers.

He did no such thing. That you continue to think so simply tells me that we have nothing further to discuss. I've said my piece and you've said yours.

Good day.

[Madame Dufarge]

Then why didn't they show the vote?

They showed the passengers discussing what they were going to do.

The film portrayed them discussing it in whispers, so that the terrorists wouldn't overhear them.

This seems to me the most likely scenario.

Yet you seem to be craving for the movie to show some sort of parliamentary proceeding, with a polite raising of hands and calls for "Yea" or "Nay" votes.

I don't get your point at all.

[metesky]

This movie was anything but proterrorist. Should the director have given the Evil Ones some sort of overt markings?

The point, FRiend, is that Evil is banal and hard to recognize until it springs on you.

Eichman, the BTK Killer, 4/5 guys from the ME out for a plane ride. All perfectly normal appearing, all blending into the background until the trap is sprung.

We'd all like them to be like this Ahmagoinjihad there in Iran so we could see them up front for what they are, but that's not the way it works.

[donna]

Yet you seem to be craving for the movie to show some sort of parliamentary proceeding, with a polite raising of hands and calls for "Yea" or "Nay" votes.

If you won't accept my explanation maybe this will help:

A&E did a version called "Flight 93" in January. Here is an excerpt from a [National Review] review that explains the importance of the vote:

"There's a moment toward the end of Flight 93 — the new A&E film about 9/11 and the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania — when the passengers realize they must make a decision about whether they're going to try to overpower the hijackers. So they do something quintessentially American: They vote."

"The entire movie, which premieres tonight at 9 P.M., can be interpreted as a metaphor for the war on terror: The bad guys wield box cutters, invoke the name of Allah, and kill people; the Americans vote, say the Lord's Prayer, and fight back." (snip)

[donna]

I'm saying the director of this movie accomplished perfect balance between the passengers and the terrorists in a way the will let every American hating Muslim laugh and applaud as they watch this movie.

I object!

[Junior]

But it is not about grief. It is about courage.

A movie is like any other piece of art; what you are seeing is not necessarily what the artist wants you to see because you are filtering it through your own experiences. To the author of this piece it could've very well been a movie about grief, while to you it's about courage. Both of you are right.

[soccer_maniac]

United 93's box office receipts compared to other movies in 2006

2006 DOMESTIC GROSSES

#1–100 - #101–150

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Rank	Movie Title (click to view)	Studio	Total Gross / Theaters		Opening / Theaters		Open	Close
1	Ice Age: The Meltdown	Fox	$184,420,315	3,969	$68,033,544	3,964	3/31	-
2	Failure to Launch	Par.	$87,328,276	3,202	$24,411,322	3,057	3/10	-
3	Inside Man	Uni.	$86,368,485	2,867	$28,954,945	2,818	3/24	-
4	Scary Movie 4	Dim.	$84,501,768	3,674	$40,222,875	3,602	4/14	-
5	The Pink Panther	Sony	$82,226,474	3,477	$20,220,412	3,477	2/10	-
6	Eight Below	BV	$81,174,739	3,122	$20,188,176	3,066	2/17	-
7	Big Momma's House 2	Fox	$70,085,227	3,261	$27,736,056	3,261	1/27	-
8	V for Vendetta	WB	$69,563,652	3,365	$25,642,340	3,365	3/17	-
9	Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion	Lions	$63,257,940	2,194	$30,030,661	2,194	2/24	-
10	Underworld: Evolution	SGem	$62,318,875	3,207	$26,857,181	3,207	1/20	-
11	Mission: Impossible III	Par.	$60,091,171	4,059	$47,743,273	4,054	5/5	-
12	Curious George	Uni.	$58,360,760	2,609	$14,703,405	2,566	2/10	5/4
13	The Shaggy Dog	BV	$57,431,352	3,501	$16,310,058	3,501	3/10	-
14	The Benchwarmers	SonR	$56,107,026	3,282	$19,656,429	3,274	4/7	-
15	Final Destination 3	NL	$54,098,051	2,880	$19,173,094	2,880	2/10	-
16	Firewall	WB	$48,714,507	2,840	$13,635,463	2,840	2/10	-
17	Date Movie	Fox	$48,487,606	2,898	$19,076,261	2,896	2/17	-
18	When a Stranger Calls	SGem	$47,860,214	3,004	$21,607,203	2,999	2/3	3/19
19	Hostel	Lions	$47,326,473	2,337	$19,556,099	2,195	1/6	2/16
20	Nanny McPhee	Uni.	$47,144,110	2,148	$14,503,650	1,995	1/27	5/4
21	Glory Road	BV	$42,643,187	2,397	$13,594,734	2,222	1/13	-
22	Silent Hill	Sony	$42,307,017	2,932	$20,152,598	2,926	4/21	-
23	The Hills Have Eyes	FoxS	$41,543,709	2,621	$15,708,512	2,620	3/10	-
24	Last Holiday	Par.	$38,399,961	2,514	$12,806,188	2,514	1/13	-
25	16 Blocks	WB	$36,698,249	2,706	$11,855,260	2,706	3/3	-
26	Take the Lead	NL	$33,943,336	3,009	$12,051,277	3,009	4/7	-
27	RV	Sony	$33,320,569	3,651	$16,414,767	3,639	4/28	-
28	She's the Man	DW	$33,054,097	2,631	$10,730,372	2,623	3/17	-
29	The Wild	BV	$32,725,350	2,854	$9,684,809	2,854	4/14	-
30	The Sentinel	Fox	$32,041,884	2,851	$14,367,854	2,819	4/21	-
31	Stay Alive	BV	$22,693,016	2,009	$10,726,406	2,009	3/24	-
32	United 93	Uni.	$22,046,975	1,871	$11,478,360	1,795	4/28	-
33	Lucky Number Slevin	MGM	$21,805,329	1,989	$7,031,921	1,984	4/7	-
34	ATL	WB	$21,020,534	1,602	$11,554,404	1,602	3/31	-
35	Thank You for Smoking	FoxS	$20,450,327	1,020	$262,923	5	3/17	-
36	Stick It	BV	$18,978,888	2,044	$10,803,610	2,038	4/28	-
37	Aquamarine	Fox	$18,568,348	2,538	$7,482,669	2,512	3/3	-
38	Ultraviolet	SGem	$18,500,966	2,558	$9,064,880	2,558	3/3	-
39	Annapolis	BV	$17,127,992	1,607	$7,681,171	1,605	1/27	4/13
40	Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector	Lions	$15,476,885	1,747	$6,922,767	1,710	3/24	-
41	Tristan and Isolde	Fox	$14,734,633	1,845	$6,583,135	1,845	1/13	3/30
42	Freedomland	SonR	$12,512,886	2,361	$5,833,562	2,361	2/17	-
43	End of the Spear	RM	$11,748,661	1,163	$4,281,388	1,163	1/20	-
44	Dave Chappelle's Block Party	Rog.	$11,718,595	1,200	$6,214,723	1,200	3/3	4/6
45	Akeelah and the Bee	Lions	$11,604,649	2,195	$6,011,585	2,195	4/28	-
46	Something New	Focus	$11,468,568	1,265	$4,879,736	1,265	2/3	-
47	Friends with Money	SPC	$10,342,000	1,010	$589,332	28	4/7	-
48	Deep Sea 3-D (IMAX)	WB	$8,135,764	47	$700,213	43	3/3	-
49	Slither	Uni.	$7,802,450	1,946	$3,880,270	1,945	3/31	-
50	Doogal	Wein.	$7,417,319	2,319	$3,605,899	2,318	2/24	-
51	An American Haunting	Free	$7,249,702	1,703	$5,783,508	1,675	5/5	-
52	American Dreamz	Uni.	$7,064,450	1,500	$3,667,420	1,500	4/21	-
53	Running Scared	NL	$6,855,137	1,611	$3,381,974	1,611	2/24	4/2
54	Phat Girlz	FoxS	$6,780,568	1,060	$3,109,924	1,060	4/7	-
55	Grandma's Boy	Fox	$6,090,172	2,016	$3,009,341	2,015	1/6	2/23
56	Basic Instinct 2	Sony	$5,851,188	1,453	$3,201,420	1,453	3/31	-
57	Hoot	NL	$4,087,569	3,018	$3,368,197	3,018	5/5	-
58	Roving Mars (IMAX)	BV	$3,117,871	27	$412,337	27	1/27	-
59	Tsotsi	Mira.	$2,753,840	122	$76,324	6	2/24	-
60	La Mujer de Mi Hermano	Lions	$2,668,766	217	$1,018,750	206	4/14	-
61	BloodRayne	Rom.	$2,405,420	985	$1,550,000	985	1/6	-
62	Rang De Basanti	UTV	$2,197,694	66	$701,666	61	1/27	-
63	Neil Young: Heart of Gold	ParC	$1,747,891	65	$53,908	4	2/10	-
64	Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozor)	FoxS	$1,489,470	158	$86,985	3	2/17	5/4
65	Why We Fight	SPC	$1,427,568	64	$53,571	6	1/20	-
66	Brick	Focus	$1,271,088	45	$83,574	2	3/31	-
67	Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story	PicH	$1,253,413	51	$60,886	3	1/27	5/4
68	Find Me Guilty	YFG	$1,173,673	439	$608,804	439	3/17	-
69	Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World	WIP	$888,975	161	$429,223	161	1/20	3/9
70	The Notorious Bettie Page	PicH	$825,751	73	$143,131	20	4/14	-
71	Hard Candy	Lions	$778,760	152	$58,049	2	4/14	-
72	Ask the Dust	ParC	$739,441	111	$68,779	7	3/10	-
73	Imagine Me and You	FoxS	$672,243	106	$51,907	8	1/27	3/23
74	Kinky Boots	Mira.	$616,158	86	$77,529	9	4/14	-
75	Sophie Scholl - The Final Days	Zeit.	$532,840	28	$17,310	1	2/17	-
76	Boynton Beach Club	WinD	$462,719	17	$60,212	10	3/17	-
77	L'Enfant (The Child)	SPC	$453,037	40	$44,537	7	3/24	-
78	Church Ball	Hale	$437,473	40	$144,376	40	3/17	-
79	The Second Chance	Triu	$432,253	87	$200,554	87	2/17	-
80	The Lost City	Magn.	$420,864	24	$191,560	18	4/28	-
81	When Do We Eat?	Think	$416,379	48	$134,006	48	4/7	-
82	Preaching to the Choir	Free	$405,191	143	$190,865	143	4/14	-
83	The Promise	WIP	$400,260	213	$272,838	213	5/5	-
84	Water	FoxS	$336,594	62	$56,280	5	4/28	-
85	Zinda	Eros	$332,491	38	$167,246	38	1/13	-
86	Steve Harvey's Don't Trip... He Ain't Through with Me Yet!	Free	$319,088	56	$164,926	54	3/17	-
87	Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School	IDP	$304,025	46	$92,668	38	3/31	-
88	Taxi 9211	UTV	$292,794	36	$102,466	36	2/24	-
89	Don't Come Knocking	SPC	$285,102	32	$30,630	6	3/17	-
90	Dirty	Silv.	$274,245	35	$95,521	35	1/20	3/9
91	Adam & Steve	TLA	$270,024	17	$66,429	17	3/31	-
92	Humko Deewana Kar Gaye	UTV	$244,226	39	$108,630	39	4/14	-
93	A Good Woman	Lions	$238,609	35	$97,060	35	2/3	2/23
94	Tamara	CityL	$206,871	32	$29,157	14	2/3	-
95	Malamaal Weekly	RBF	$204,612	19	$75,556	17	3/10	-
96	The Devil and Daniel Johnston	SPC	$202,438	15	$23,192	5	3/31	-
97	Fateless	Think	$196,857	9	$12,680	1	1/6	-
98	On a Clear Day	Focus	$166,706	33	$17,303	5	4/7	-
99	Drawing Restraint 9	IFC	$163,246	3	$18,011	1	3/29	-
100	Awesome: I F%!#in' Shot That	Think	$162,538	180	$18,074	18	3/31	-

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