Too Far?
Uproar Over Disney Parade Float
The Walt Disney Co. was being taken to task Tuesday for its plan to present a float titled the "Twilight Zone Tower of Terror" during the Rose Parade in Pasadena Thursday. The float, which depicts a Disney theme park ride in which a hotel skyscraper is struck by lightning and an earthquake, resulting in an elevator falling from the top level, was particularly criticized by relatives of victims of the 9/11 tragedy, the Associated Press reported.
The Walt Disney Co. was being taken to task Tuesday for its plan to present a float titled the "Twilight Zone Tower of Terror" during the Rose Parade in Pasadena Thursday. The float, which depicts a Disney theme park ride in which a hotel skyscraper is struck by lightning and an earthquake, resulting in an elevator falling from the top level, was particularly criticized by relatives of victims of the 9/11 tragedy, the Associated Press reported.
This was based on an amusement park ride and had nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism, crashing airliners, or the World Trade Center. Why would the 9/11 relatives have a problem with this? Well, I guess anything depicting danger in tall buildings could be disturbing to the survivors/relatives but at some point society has to say enough, we've done realistically enough to spare the feelings of the victims. Some censures just go too far.
From what I can tell "Tower of Terror" doesnt' have any kind of political message...It's not making light of 9/11 or saying that the U.S. got what it deserved like a lot of the crap that's been spewed onto the net...It's just a scary movie, kinda like The Towering Inferno. At what point did our society become too delicate to tolerate things that "kinda sorta" remind people of historic events.
Tall buildings scare a lot of people. My first real job gave me a window seat on the 23rd floor in downtown Vancouver. I was repelled and yet drawn to push my face up against the glass, scared and yet thrilled that the glass might break - must we ALL be forced to avert our eyes from the things that scare us because some have suffered great personal tragedies involving these everyday things?
Why was Die Hard so much better than Die Hard 2? Easy answer. The fact that action/suspense/horror played out in tall buildings is much scarier, because of that primal fear of not being able to escape; which is probably why the Airport series of movies did so well, also. Don't get me wrong. I have nothing but sympathy for the victims and their families of September 11th. I just don't see how every story about danger in a tall building is somehow being insensitive to them...
I'm sure that the survivors of the Titanic were sensitive about stories depicting the sinking of ships...However I doubt if there was a loud cry to stop sea stories on that basis. I think that they'd just choose not to see them.
I'm sure that someone out there is probably going to take offense at this post. If so, please know that this is not my intent; but at some point we have to stop taking offense at the most remote connection that some form of entertainment may have to the tragic events that happen all around us.
There was a brief reaction to the title of The Two Towers film on the same basis. I have nothing but sympathy for the people who lost loved ones in the Twin Towers but this isn't even an apples and oranges comparison.
Posted by Ghost of a flea on 01/02 at 05:55 PMI too am sorry for their loss. I find that people who are 'looking' to be offended will inevitably find it everywhere.
Posted by Rue on 01/02 at 06:13 PMWhy go after the float for a ride that has nothing to do with 9/11, and say nothing about ACTUAL capitalization on the ACTUAL tragedy, like Wal-Mart's unbelievably tacky 6 x 2 framed picture, gold on black, skyline of New York City, with "1976 - 2001. We will remember" which went up for sale on 9/13?
Posted by Sage Tyrtle on 01/03 at 07:19 AM...Or the pallets of cheap, sentimental coffee table books that were bulked into the Borders, Chapters and other big box bookstores within the month.
Posted by Ray on 01/03 at 11:41 AM
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