Sally, Zizek (Welcome to the Desert of the Real)

Does Slavoj Zizek give too much credit to the terrorists when he says, "the 'terrorists' themselves did not do it [planes hitting the WTC towers on September 11, 2001] primarily to provoke real material damage, but for the spectacular effect of it."? (231) I want to believe that it was coincidence that network cameras captured the 2nd plane flying into the tower as it did - providing the world with "the spectacular effect" of America under attack in real time - resulting in the jouissance that we Americans so unabashadly live for. To believe otherwise means that the timing of the impacts were so perfectly coordinated and immune to human factors that could cause delay that the "perfect" attack had been planned to be captured on camera LIVE! Certainly, Bin Laden knew the aftermath would be filmed and broadcast ad nauseum, but COULD he have known that CNN and FOX would have their cameras in place to film the 2nd plane as it approached and crashed into the 2nd WTC tower? I'll never forget a particular news anchor, Shepherd Smith, atop the studio's building trying to gather his thoughts and do his reporting as the wind blew his hair and he buttoned his shirt, etc. Cameramen ran about in a frantic rush and had to be admired for their "pulling it all together" so quickly, but then, the 2nd plane came into view as a black dot....and the "rest is history." Were they capturing a news story for ratings? Or, were they capturing the "real horror" happening here, rather than there" (paraphrase, 2323) to show that America is not immune to tragedy? The raw images of that day are indeed a "primal scene"(borrowing from Baudrillard, 228.) In that brief moment, the media was one of us - we were all primal in our fascination/horror with the destruction.

In my own home, I rationalized viewing the coverage as "this is history in the making". In fact, the later realization that I was so detached from the reality of what was truly occurring was stunning and shaming to me. I admit, I tried hard to see if I could spot anyone jumping from the buildings as the news was reporting. The most disturbing aspect of the possibility that Bin Laden really did intend for the networks to capture the plane(s) hitting the buildings in real time, is to accept that this leader of terrorists got the final "f@#% you" on the American society he so detests by using the American media to his own advantage. Also, with the likelihood of the human factor affecting his plan (delays on the runways, screeners holding up the line at Logan airport) logic says it's pure coincidence that his plan unfolded as it did. Perhaps, if I'm honest with myself, my argument is driven by this: I simply don't want to give him (them) credit for their success. It would be unamerican to do so....but, the truth of what really happened that day tugs at me; I have always wrestled with admitting the genius/reason behind the attacks and giving "credit" where credit is due. To ignore the reality is equally un-American. Now, back to Hollywood for further insight to 9/11....

Most profoundly, Zizek likens the 2nd airplane to a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's movie, The Birds. Wow. Let's just say if we ever discover that Bin Laden is a fan of Hitchcock, I'll readily concede that he orchestrated the whole attack perfectly despite any unexpected interruptions that may have impeded the synchronicity of the attack(s)! (Do I dare say that I can understand why the fundamentalist Islamist terrorists believe their God, Allah, "blessed" this effort.) Furthermore, did Bin Laden KNOW the steel would collapse as it did in BOTH towers? (I have to be careful here because this guy may get way-too-much credit as a "director".) We had a prelude of such attacks, but a parking garage bombing by "the blind sheik" near the UN building in NYC ('93) just didn't have the same impact as the WTC towers falling - it was still Hollywood, but not a summer blockbuster like WTC was. It was just a bombing as was The USS Cole. We, the general public, tend to recover from those events by the next day or so.

The image of the 2nd plane is the one that haunts my thoughts....as when the indistinguishable black dot appears in the upper right hand corner of the screen in the The Birds, so did the 2nd plane appear on our tv screens. The bird eventually zeroed in on, and hit, the character on the head as she waved to her lover. "Was not the plane which hit the WTC tower literally the ultimate Hitchcockian blot, the anamorphic stain which denaturalized the idyllic well-known New York landscape?" (233) ) Until I read Zizek's analogy, I only knew that particular “scene” to be chilling. It's difficult to express why, though; that scene led to the survivors walk/running from the destruction, covered in white ash, who were like zombies - dazed and surreal. They were truly denaturalized on American soil. Increasingly, I'm starting to accept that it's not such a stretch that Bin Laden is a fan of Hitchcock - he "directed" a masterpiece of horror for the American public's viewing "pleasure;" in effect, Bin Laden is making us deal with "the Desert of the Real."