The History Channel’s documentary 9/11 Timeline: The Attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City (2011) shows the events of September 11, 2001, and the witnesses’ reactions to them. Using videos from that day and 3D images of the World Trade Center, it reconstructs the timeline of the attacks and the process of the towers’ collapse. By providing both factual evidence and emotional descriptions of the events, it creates a comprehensive picture of the tragedy.
I watched multiple documentaries on 9/11 but this video stroke me as the most accurate and emotional at the same time. I have always considered 9/11 as both a symbol of the terroristic threat and a spectacular visual event that reminded me of Hollywood movies about the Apocalypse. The documentary does not focus on the visually striking images of the towers’ collapse, providing factual data and emotional reactions instead. It helped me to see the 9/11 attacks from a new perspective — as an emotionally and psychologically intense tragedy rather than a sequence of symbolical images.
The video does not describe the government’s reaction to the events, focusing on the city’s emergency response. It stroke me the most that one of the interviewees, Richard Sheirer, NYC Commissioner of Emergency Management, said that someone gave an order to evacuate the towers, but nobody knows who it was (History, 2011). It was the decision that saved the lives of hundreds of people, but until now, no one knows who has made it. It can be concluded that the city was not prepared for the attacks, and the emergency measures that were taken were random and haphazard. 9/11 was a tragedy that we often forget about, and the documentary made me realize how terrifying it would be to witness such an event and lose someone you love to a terrorist attack.
Reference
History. (2011). 9/11 timeline: The attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. YouTube. Web.