In the film, United 93, we see firsthand the behind-the-scenes of the only hijacked plane on 9/11 that did not reach its target. The movie shows multiple sides of the story, from beginning with showing the hijackers the night before the flight, to the passengers on the plane and the U.S. Air Force and Air Traffic Control. The film conveys a strong sense of communication among all said parties, and shows how much can be done when people work together. This can be said for everyone who was involved; sadly, the way the hijackers worked together and communicated in a language that no one else understood allowed them to accomplish most everyone’s worst nightmare, but the remaining passengers on the flight were also able to come together despite the fear they were facing to fight back and prevent the plane from going where it was headed.
Most media about 9/11 shows the strong sense of community that was formed on that horrible day, and United 93 is no different. One important way that people are often brought together is through religion, so the scene when the plane has been hijacked and the passengers are saying the Lord’s Prayer line by line while the terrorists are saying a prayer in their language depicts this. By having different people say each line makes the viewer feel as though the passengers are truly connected through their shared faith, although it is fairly probable that many of those people were not actually religious but being put in a life-threatening situation pushed them to turn towards religion. The scene also creates a clear divide between a sort of “us” and “them” with the language barrier.
Overall, nothing would have been able to be accomplished on 9/11 if it hadn’t been for everyone who worked together. This is true for the people who hijacked the planes and accomplished what they were trying to do, as well as the Air Traffic Control who took note of the fact that planes were going off-route, and the passengers who prevented the final plane from heading towards a place where more people would be killed.
One reply on “ERA: United 93”
I find it interesting how Ella highlights how the passengers were brought together by their common faith in their last moments, although many may not have been religious. Regardless of a possible lack of religion, many people of the flight were able to use religion to create a sense of unity and comfort through prayer. Although in contrast, the two separate religions and separate prayers created a sense of distinct division amongst the passengers of the flight. We can relate this to aspects of the early foundation of the United States and some of the works we have previously examined in this course. The yearning for religious freedom is what brought many to the United States. But, as we saw in The Witch (although I recognize this is not essentially comparable to the events of 9/11), religion brought a community together, but religious differences cause a family to be expelled. It created a community, but also a sense of division.