Escaping the Routine

The movie 'United Flight 93' opens soon in a theater near you. It is a documentary of the rural crash of the airliner, hastened by its passengers to avert further destruction intended for the Pentagon, the U.S. Capitol, or the White House on 9/11, 2001. All previews that I have seen or heard claim that this film is a stunning dose of reality.

There seems to me a great irony here. Historically, movies have been attended for the purpose of momentarily escaping the harsh realities of life. 'United Flight 93' has reversed these roles, however. Viewers will be watching this to experience heroism within life to death terror, momentarily escaping the harsh fantasy worldview of the mainstream press' propaganda, the harsh rhetorical ideology of the Bush Derangement Syndromers, and the harsh 'we have a plan and we can do it better' ersatz wisdom of the well documented talking heads. (I am reminded of a blog called 'The Nose on Your Face'; news so fake you'll swear it was from the mainstream media.)

Perhaps we are undergoing a new 'Copernican Revolution'. Our culture may be understanding to a greater degree that the universe does not revolve around or acquiesce to our individually created cosmos.