United 93

United 93 isn’t the movie I expected it to be. Having read John Podhorertz and Rich Lowry’s pieces, I thought the film’s key message would be that even on 9/11 itself Americans fought back against the terrorists. Well, it’s not.

The legend of this flight played a key part in the nation’s recovery after 9/11. The fact that ordinary citizens took the fight to the enemy that day and saved the Capitol from destruction meant that the United States was not some helpless victim ravished by a cunning enemy but rather a nation that fought back and once again demonstrated those virtues of courage, ingenuity, and self-reliance that have so defined its history. These brave passengers were reassuring evidence that this generation was up to the challenge that history had presented it with. I think this is why George W. Bush took to ending his speeches in the fall of 2001 with the line, “But we have our marching orders:  My fellow Americans, let's roll.”

The movie does depict bravery in the fight to retake the plane. But it also reminds us of something that it is easy to forget: The passengers wanted to land the plane. At the end of the film one feels deflated that all the passengers have died rather than elated that the Capitol has been saved. The movie also avoids patriotic bombast. There is no scene in which passengers declare that they must act to save Washington and the American system of government. Instead, they realize that the bombers are on a suicide mission and that they have to get control of the plane to have any hope of survival. (Although, it does seem like a cheap shot to have the voice of in-flight appeasement speak with a European accent.) 

One striking feature: The film makes no attempt to gloss over the importance of religion to the terrorists. The movie opens with them praying and we see them doing this as they hijack the plane with unvarnished brutality and pilot it with the aim of causing death and destruction. The director felt no need to add in a “good Muslim” to pop up with a public service announcement about Islam being a religion of peace. This is a tribute to American tolerance. No one fears that pointing out that Islam, albeit a perverted interpretation of it, inspired the hijackers is going to lead to the lynching of Muslims here.

I went into the theatre thinking that this movie might change popular opinion about Iraq. It was a hunch based on the comments made by the father of passenger Todd Beamer, who said: “The enemy doesn’t have the word surrender in his dictionary and we can’t have the word retreat in ours.” Having seen it, I don't think it will affect views on Iraq. The film takes a narrow remit and doesn’t attempt to offer a solution to the war on terror. What it does do is remind us of is the qualities of love, courage, determination, and ingenuity that make Americans—and I say this as a foreigner—such a great people.