perhaps a little light-hearted, but....

[Rich Hunt]

Has anyone else reviewed "The Towering Inferno" on DVD since the September 11th attacks?

I remember the days after 9/11, when me and my friends all thought about that film. Many of us watched it again. One funny detail is that the fire in the film started on the 81st floor!

I'm watching it now, and it's hard not to think about 9/11, especially since the design and art direction and all is very late modernist, the sort of "friendly" soft modernism that architects and designers were introducing, and similar in theme to what Yamasaki aimed for in the WTC (see the Time-Life DVD on the life and death of the WTC for a good background on the conception of and ideals behind the WTC).

Made me think what role social modernism and the vast public projects of the sixties and seventies might have played in fomenting resentment among hard right and reactionary elements in both the U.S. and the world, a resentment that found its expression in the destruction of the World Trade Canter.

Muslims are known for their gorgeous, soft and simple architecture, which is highly geometric and of a kind with the simplicity and clarity of the World Trade Center. I therefore find it implausible that someone would truly destroy this ambitious architectural project on behalf of Islam.

Also interesting that someone named Mohammed Atta was studying architecture in Germany before or around the time of the attacks, and that the identity of the hijacker of Flight 11 is in question.

What I'm saying is that perhaps one angle we might want to take in looking at September 11th is this : what was going on in the WTC, and perhaps the WTC had to be "handled" by its enemies because it represented a lot of things that they perceived as hostile. The WTC might have been considered an "affront' either for the business going on there, or for the design and the social ideals behind it. Or both.

Keep in mind that the WTC had once been half empty, but after a couple of decades of development, had reached nearly full occupancy at the time of its destruction.

Just another angle one might take here, spurred on by the meticulous art direction and casting of this 70s disaster film.

===

On a side note: I am an art historian by training, with additional post-graduate education, currently unemployed, so I'm now thinking I may like to get a grant to research and study the relationship between modernism, design, and fascist reactions to it. In my experience, it seems to be a recurring theme, from the Victorian era (post-Chicago fire), through the 1920s, and again in the sixties and seventies, which was a massive reform era.

====

Also interested in collections of artwork, films, essays, photography, etc. related to September 11th, especially in regard to the engineered pornography that was the destruction of the World Trade Center. When investigating a crime, one must explore the motive rather than just point fingers this way and that way.

[mirandapriestly]

I thought about the Towering Inferno, too,

I was thinking of renting it, maybe I will. That is weird about the 81st floor. There was also that tv show that had a plot similar to the wtc with a plane crashing into the wtc, but going off at the last minute. You know, it's interesting about the WTC. I guess Yamaguchi was a favorite of the Saudis and he did work for them . He incorporated , as I'm sure you know, some Islamic style into the surface design on the lower part of the towers. That and the fact that the WTC was actually public run by the Port Authority made it sort of ironic that it was supposedly a symbol of capitalism. Dontcha think?
I want to apologize, I think I was rude in a a post to you once, and I'm sorry, there's just a lot of trolls here and some times I get defensive (or offensive). You had actually made a good point.

[mirandapriestly]

3. Oops, I double posted, wish I could delete one.

[mirandapriestly]

1. I thought about the Towering Inferno, too,

I was thinking of renting it, maybe I will. That is weird about the 81st floor. There was also that tv show that had a plot similar to the wtc with a plane crashing into the wtc, but going off at the last minute. You know, it's interesting about the WTC. I guess Yamaguchi was a favorite of the Saudis and he did work for them . He incorporated , as I'm sure you know, some Islamic style into the surface design on the lower part of the towers. That and the fact that the WTC was actually public run by the Port Authority made it sort of ironic that it was supposedly a symbol of capitalism. Dontcha think?
I want to apologize, I think I was rude in a a post to you once, and I'm sorry, there's just a lot of trolls here and some times I get defensive (or offensive). You had actually made a good point.

[Rich Hunt]

2. Oh, thanks

I don't remember you being rude, but thanks.

Yeah, the WTC was a massive public works project, actually. I think some people at the time were getting it confused with the WTO, you know, that was a very hot issue in the years preceding the attacks.

Yeah, WTC was a simple design that had global appeal, it would be inoffensive in most cultures, and that was the idea. That architectural style at the time was a softened modernism that would be more 'global'. Whatever was going on with those Saudi hijackers wasn't done with any serious defense of Islam in mind - this was a very un-Islamic thing to do.

The DVD was released in 1974, just as the Sears Tower was topped off, and I was a kid in Chicago at the time. We perceived it as a 'warning' about the dangers of building tall buildings, and it made us think about the Sears Tower suffering a catastrophe of some sort.

[atomic-fly]

4. might look at this for your collection

This video was made in mid 80's. An outsiders view of American culture (in music video form).
Of course the towers are one of the symbols of contention.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lq04t7QWoz8