9/11:The Falling Man
November 11th 2008 04:42
Yesterday I read a post by Jeff Musall on secularhumanity.com and I remembered a powerful documentary about the 'falling man' photo that I had seen a few years ago. It affected me deeply and I used it as the subject of an essay on media ethics, which follows. I think it was easy for some people to think that the US got what it deserved but, as this documentary shows, killing innocent people is always wrong.
Without doubt, the use of misleading or manipulated images in the media is ethically wrong. Photos that are exploitative or scandalous may simply be questionable. But what about the decision to pull a photograph from publication because of public reaction? At what point on the ethical scale does this sit? * A certain image - beautifully composed, simple and striking - which has come to be known as the ‘falling man’, was chosen one day as a representation of the 9/11 disaster. The next day it had disappeared from American newspapers. Most people in Australia might never have seen the photo if it was not for a documentary, made a few years later and directed by Henry Singer, which focused on this image and provoked subsequent analysis in our own print media. * In the documentary, 9/11: Falling Man, Richard Drew, the Associated Press photographer who took the photo, says that he chose this image because it has a “certain something that you recognize”. He does not see it as this person’s death but as part of his life. * Allentown, Pennsylvania is a town so typically American that it is often used by pollsters to canvass opinions. Presumably it was chosen by the documentary makers as a microcosm of American society because its’ reaction to the publication of the falling man photo in its daily paper so closely mirrored the rest of the country. * In spite of reservations David Erdman, Managing Editor of Allentown’s The Morning Call newspaper, made the decision to publish the photo because he believed that pictures were critical to capturing the enormity of the event and because this image, in particular, portrayed the humanity of that day. It was a considered decision that was made after discussion with staff and after he had scrutinized the photo to assure himself that the person falling to their death was not recognizable. * Photo Editor at the paper, Naomi Halperin, spoke about the quietness, stillness and grace that she saw in the photo. Yet public reaction was swift and unequivocal and the image disappeared from view. * Erdman says that in looking at the photo he was struck by the knowledge that this person must have made the decision to jump and this caused Erdman to question what he, himself, would have done. He elaborates that maybe this was the reason for the public outcry. The power of the image to carry the viewer into a very personal space in which they found themselves confronting the same predicament with which they were unable to deal. * Omission of facts by media, especially in reporting a world-shattering event such as this, is serious ethical failure. Dishing the dirt on a celebrity’s life pales by comparison. Given that about 200 desperate people jumped to their deaths that day, this was a terrible distortion of the truth. * Certainly, something about the image of the falling man had deeply offended the American people, but the self-imposed censorship that followed was surely more offensive. What is really puzzling is that the Australian public, to some extent, shared this feeling. Apparently the publication of the photo on the front page of the Australian Financial Review angered many people. * Tom Junod is the prize winning writer on American culture who finally located the man who seems most likely to be the figure in the photo. Junod was so struck by the image that he could not get it out of his head and was prompted to make enquiries at the New York Medical Examiner’s office. When he asked if there had been a count of people who had jumped that day he was firmly told that people had been ‘blown out’ or were ‘forced out’ but that no-one had jumped. * In 2003, Esquire magazine published Junod’s story, The Falling Man, detailing his search for the identity of the person in this image. It was on this story that the documentary was based. * The unwillingness of people to face an unpalatable truth is one thing, but the aquiescence of the media in babying the public is another. What is truly shocking is that so many people found this image – a figure hovering on the midpoint between the dark and the light, against a backdrop of alternating vertical bands – so confronting. * If the purpose of The Media is to present the facts for dissemination, then withdrawing this image from public view was tampering with the truth. Accusations of exploitation and voyeurism should have been ignored. The photograph was chosen, in the first place because of its power. * Richard Drew says that when he viewed the photos, “that picture jumped off the screen”. The impact of that single image, had it stayed in the public domain at that time, can now only be guessed. * But the picture had entered the public consciousness and could not be forgotten. Interest in the subject of the photo led to ethically suspect actions of another kind. The search for the identity of the man, at the instigation of an editor at the Toronto Globe, initially threw up the name of Norberto Hernandez, causing anguish and vehement denial in his strict Catholic family. (There was final probable identification of another man, Jonathon Briley). * What a paradox. The media - in apparent overwhelming agreement - removes from view an image of an anonymous person because it is too upsetting to the public; yet the person in the photo is given an identity solely on the basis of possibility. * Who can say, with absolute certainty, what is in the public interest? The truth, of course. The photograph itself could be branded deceptive because it is a captured instant; part of something that, viewed in its entirety, is a violent struggle. But the fact is that it was chosen because it crystallized a certain unfathomable truth about that day. That the image refuses to go away just underscores how wrong it was to try to remove it in the first place.
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Comment by Lady Henrietta Muddling
Potter in a Harry
I never finished the book online. Orble readers of the time were more interested in whether or not Britney was wearing panties. Some people still ask me about it, but I deleted the book from my hard drive.
I called the falling man the man nobody knew. He became so famous that he eventually became known as the man. He became the most famous nobody that everyone knew. But didn't know. And had never met. (does the theme sound familiar?). The gist of it was that if people mentioned the name the man (the name of the man nobody knew) everybody knew the man they were referring to. "Oh, you mean the man nobody knew? The man everybody knows? The man no-one has ever met?" It got to the stage where people would interrupt people mid sentence and go, "I know who you mean. The man none of us know." A nod was sufficient to confirm this.
I remember watching the footage of 9/11. The most graphic images were of people trapped on top of the building having to make a decision about life itself, and then making the decision to jump. And they only had two choices: 1. If I stay I die. 2. If I jump I die. They are not the choices many of us want to be confronted with in life.
I've read a lot about the falling man. I think one of Don de Lillo's novels was about the falling man.
And that's the end of my dribble session. You just brought back a few memories of a time when writing on Orble interested me.
Comment by Lady Henrietta Muddling
Potter in a Harry
"If a man falls from the top of the Twin Towers on 9/11 and no-one knows him, did he really make a sound?"
Comment by Mister Smith
MRS SMITH
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Why did you delete what you had written? Can you get it back from your Orble posts? You should watch the documentary. It is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen in terms of arousing genuine ... I am having a problem describing it but just thinking about it now...it is haunting. I think it is available on You tube (not as potent as a big screen) but I haven't quite worked out the video link thing yet.
Yes, Tom Junod was inspired by the photo taken by Richard Drew to search for the man's identity and to write a story which appeared in Esquire. The documentary, 9/11:The Falling Man - directed by Henry Singer - incorporated Tom Junod's search into a wider exploration of the people who perished in this disaster. I could not even recall having seen this photo before i saw the documentary. They said, in the documentary, that there was a great deal of footage of people jumping but it was not allowed to be shown. The image had to be of bravery: ie the rescuers. Is Don de Lillo's book about the same subject? I have heard of it but assumed it was a coincidental title.
Comment by Lady Henrietta Muddling
Potter in a Harry
Yeah, David is fine.
Oh look I get bored with writing. It's always been a love/hate relationship, but I'm a bit over it all now. I'm just filling in a bit of time on Orble atm until I go back working again.
As to retrieving the original text? Na, it's all gone.
As to Don de Lillo? Here's the link to the NY Times review of his book:
Really Long Link
There's two things that have happened in the past couple of decades that have really disturbed me. Both of them involve the removing of footage/photographs. The first time was the US destruction of people fleeing Iraq (Desert Storm time I think). [I was watching this interview with a US pilot and he was stoked that he'd finally been able to kill real people and not just simulate killing. Now that was disturbing in light of Columbine). The second was removal of footage/photographs of 9/11. The ones that made the most impact were of individuals jumping from the top of the burning buildings. Shades of JFK?
To me, politicians are mainly fucked individuals who love wealth and power. And as St Augustine said, "But for the grace of God, there go I." And St Benedict counsels us all to consider these evil people and ask ourselves one question. Can't remember the direct quote but it runs along these lines. "If if was in that position, there is a distinct possibility I would do worse things." I think it's his 12th level of humility. To consider every other person on the planet less evil than you are. Makes sense to me. But I'm not a lesbian.
Comment by Mister Smith
MRS SMITH
READ THIS
SISTERS IN CRIME
And I always thought that "there but for the grace of God go I' referred to being/not being a person with extreme hardships. Well, well, well!
It is hard to understand a soldier who really enjoys killing but there are people like that in normal society. I wonder if there is any truth in the idea that war is a useful outlet for aggression or whether it just feeds the lower impulses.
And what was the JFK reference?
Comment by Cheryl J
Rhythmatism
Zentertainment
Budget Centsability
I don't think the image was at all exploitative, I found it to be the most poignant of all the 9/11 photos. To me that was the picture that represented the true horror of the situation; the choice to die on your own terms (jumping) or the choice of burning to death (staying) which meant no real choice at all.
It was of course it was a distressing photo, everyone should have been distressed by it, that's why I couldn't understand the censorship. Our world is full of the horrors of war and terrorism and perhaps if we were confronted with more of the images that shock us into seeing the true horrors it may go some way toward having people try to prevent the atrocities occuring in the first place.
This site CLICK HERE shows the many things that have captured those moments and some which never reached the newspapers because they were deemed inappropriate. They are important, they should be seen and they should never been forgotten as with this photo.
Comment by Cibbuano
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
It's one of the bankers, screaming in rage and fear to get someone to help him. He sounds like an odious person, expecting to be saved because he's someone important.
Then the video shows the building collapsing, and we hear his screams. It's one of the most disturbing, chilling videos I've seen.
Comment by m
Cib, which particular YouTube video do you mean? There seems to be a few. Can you give me a running time so I can find it? Thanks