MB Civic

By Carie Lemack | August 4, 2006 | The Boston Globe

IS IT TOO SOON to be showing movies based on the 9/11 terrorist attacks? That is a question on the minds of many. This year’s “United 93″ was the first major 9/11-inspired film released, beginning the wave of movies that have crashed down on us five years after the tragedy. Coming fast on its heels is “World Trade Center,” opening next week. Even comedian Adam Sandler is doing a 9/11 movie, playing a fictional widower who loses his wife and two daughters on one of the ill-fated flights from Boston.

Is it too soon? Who am I to say? Hollywood has a right to make any movie it wants. I have a right not to see it. I have no need, since I relive daily the horror of my mom’s experience as a passenger on the first plane to hit the World Trade Center.

I prefer to focus on a more important question: What are people doing to make the country safer, to make sure we aren’t attacked again? Going to a movie is not enough.

Some 9/11 family members argue that the films are necessary to make sure people “never forget.” Go to the “United 93″ website, and this mantra is visible in the gray background, a solemn pledge to the victims and their memories.

But I prefer to “always remember.” That denotes an active attempt to keep connected with what happened and to whom it happened. We owe more to the victims and survivors of 9/11 than not forgetting — we owe it to them to make sure it never happens again.

Millions of people will see the movies. They will watch in horror as the planes crash, the buildings fall, and people’s lives and dreams are violently dashed away. And then they will leave the movie theaters, saying to themselves how horrible it all was, how brave the victims were, how it should never reoccur. They will leave emotional — but they could leave empowered. Director Oliver Stone and Paramount Pictures decided against airing public service announcements along with the commercials and trailers before “World Trade Center,” so audiences won’t be told how they can help. What an opportunity was lost. The best tribute to my mom and the 2,971 others who died is to ask the people sitting in those darkened theaters to take action to make sure there’s no such future tragedy.

If the announcements had been allowed to air, here are three messages I wish audiences could have seen:

Help stop the most preventable (and most deadly) type of attack: nuclear terrorism. If international authorities lock up all the nuclear material in the world, just like authorities lock up all the gold at Fort Knox, terrorists cannot use it against us. They don’t have the skills and resources to make their own. Even though both American presidential candidates in 2004 agreed that nuclear terrorism was the gravest threat facing the nation, neither has done much to translate his concerns into actions. Ask the president to appoint a senior adviser on nuclear proliferation and terrorism to show his commitment to locking down all loose nukes. Call your congressmen and senators to ask what they are doing about the nuclear terrorism threat. Let officials know you are concerned and want them to be, too.

Ask your local government what it has done to prepare for a disaster, manmade or natural. Are there evacuation routes? Do the neighborhood fire and police forces have adequate supplies and training? Can you get safety training to assist in case of an emergency? Even a simple inquiry to a state legislator, a city councilor, a selectman, or a police chief can spur them to act .

Thank your local airport screeners. They are on the front lines and can use the encouragement. Don’t complain when you have to take off your shoes. They have you do it for a reason — remember attempted shoe-bomber Richard Reid? Let them know you appreciate their efforts to keep you safe. Recognizing and supporting their contribution to national security demonstrates your commitment to your community’s safety. Keeping our world secure is everyone’s job, not just theirs.

Wouldn’t it be great if once a month we all took 15 minutes, one-eighth the average running time of a movie, to contact our elected officials and tell them what we think needs to be done for security.

There is power in numbers, power in determined efforts that make all of our lives better. This power of collective action is the theme of “United 93″ and “World Trade Center.” What better way to honor those on the planes and in that building than to learn from their example and take action. It is never too soon for that.

Carie Lemack is cofounder of Families of September 11. Her mother, Judy Larocque, was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 11 on 9/11.