Must See TV - Channel 4 at 9pm Tonight

tunaman

http://www.channel4.com/media/0-9/2006_all/dontmiss/falling_122.jpg


9/11: The Falling Man

September 11 2001 was a day that forever changed America. It was a day of many stories: stories of survivors, stories of heroes. But one story simply disappeared. The story of the people who began to fall just minutes after the first plane hit.

According to American journalist Tom Junod people have banished one memory from their minds,the story of the jumpers.

The following is an in depth article he wrote on the subject.
http://www.esquire.com/features/articles/2003/030903_mfe_falling_1.html

As many as 200 people may have jumped or fallen from the twin towers that day but soon those people were never spoken about again - as if they never existed.

When Tom Junod tried to follow the tragic story of the jumpers the coroner's office in New York told him nobody jumped. Victims were thrown from the windows by the force of the explosions.

Junod realised that to uncover the identity of the falling man, he was going to have to tell a story very few Americans wanted to hear.

I wonder how many Americans will ever get to see this documentary?

Ciaran500

Sounds good, just set a reminder.

DonkeyStyle \o/

tunaman wrote:

As many as 200 people may have jumped or fallen from the twin towers that day

God, two hundred... when I was watching it on the news, it all seemed so unreal until I saw the footage of people jumping.

Actually, just reading that article, I'm not sure if I'd watch that documentary... I don't know what kind of gore they'd show just for sheer impact, and tbh it just smacks of someone cashing-in on 911 while trying to make it out as 'oh remember the heroes'... I don't know what to expect... some glorified snuff movie?
I gather the families of these unfortunate victims wouldn't be too pleased about footage of their loved ones plunging to their deaths being used as ratings fodder?
I don't know if this can be treated with the dignity it deserves.

Blisterman

That's an incredible picture in the article.

ronbyrne2005

amazingly 20 people who were in the stairwells of the towers surrvived the collpase despite millions of tons of debris coming down around the./ they are making a film about these survivors

DonkeyStyle \o/

tunaman wrote:

When Tom Junod tried to follow the tragic story of the jumpers the coroner's office in New York told him nobody jumped. Victims were thrown from the windows by the force of the explosions.

It's the opinion of a lot of people that suicide means going to hell... so where the benefit of the doubt can be given; it should... especially under those circumstances.
Not that I'd consider it suicide anyway, considering a painful burning death as the only alternative.
With the amount of insensitive bible-basher assholes they have over there, I'm glad they've covered this angle.
I'm reminded of that story about the right-wing 'christians' who showed up to a gay mans funeral with signs about how he's going to hell... now with people like that around, you can forgive the coroner for tying up any loose ends for these ironically evil fúckers to jump on. :mad:

Hugh Hefner

I'll definitely be watching it. Been planning to for a while now.



P.s. We all know they were pushed by Men In Black.

meldrew

I remember reading at the time that a lot of those people did'nt jump but were pushed out by the force of the blast and it looked like they were jumping, now maybe that was just something they said to comfort their families

cregser

You can't believe that "force of the blast" thing in all seriousness. Just maybe, the force from the blast blew one or two people out and gave the rest the idea. But the way it was one person then another, then another told me it was suicides.

The jumpers were just as shocking to me as the actual kamikaze terrorists on that day. Some people say they'd rather die than be a vegetable all their lives. I'd personally rather fight it out so can't understand that way of thinking. But watching so many people jump made me realise how quickly some can give up on everything. If I was there I'd be too preoccupied trying to find a way out - just now I thought of tying people clothes together to make a rope and use that to swing into the story below and continuing.

Will watch this.

daveirl

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Firetrap

When disaster strikes amongst large numbers of people, all logic and reason flies out the window. When the Titanic struck the iceberg, why didn't they cobble together rafts from the furniture or just get the passengers to hop out onto the iceberg? Hillsborough; why couldn't they stop the crowd charging forward?

The bottom line on the 9/11 fallers is that when faced with the choice of inevitable death, many chose to jump rather than burn. Most of us are going to die in pain - anything to hasten our demise will be desirable

adox

cregser wrote:

You can't believe that "force of the blast" thing in all seriousness. Just maybe, the force from the blast blew one or two people out and gave the rest the idea. But the way it was one person then another, then another told me it was suicides.

The jumpers were just as shocking to me as the actual kamikaze terrorists on that day. Some people say they'd rather die than be a vegetable all their lives. I'd personally rather fight it out so can't understand that way of thinking. But watching so many people jump made me realise how quickly some can give up on everything. If I was there I'd be too preoccupied trying to find a way out - just now I thought of tying people clothes together to make a rope and use that to swing into the story below and continuing.

Will watch this.

The most ill thoughtout,arrogant and insensitive post I have read in a long time.

RuggieBear

cregser wrote:

You can't believe that "force of the blast" thing in all seriousness. Just maybe, the force from the blast blew one or two people out and gave the rest the idea. But the way it was one person then another, then another told me it was suicides.

The jumpers were just as shocking to me as the actual kamikaze terrorists on that day. Some people say they'd rather die than be a vegetable all their lives. I'd personally rather fight it out so can't understand that way of thinking. But watching so many people jump made me realise how quickly some can give up on everything. If I was there I'd be too preoccupied trying to find a way out - just now I thought of tying people clothes together to make a rope and use that to swing into the story below and continuing.

Will watch this.

What an idiotic statement.

I really can't post what i think of you or i'll be banned.

I'm just disgusted by your clueless post.

murphaph

cregser wrote:

You can't believe that "force of the blast" thing in all seriousness. Just maybe, the force from the blast blew one or two people out and gave the rest the idea. But the way it was one person then another, then another told me it was suicides.

The jumpers were just as shocking to me as the actual kamikaze terrorists on that day. Some people say they'd rather die than be a vegetable all their lives. I'd personally rather fight it out so can't understand that way of thinking. But watching so many people jump made me realise how quickly some can give up on everything. If I was there I'd be too preoccupied trying to find a way out - just now I thought of tying people clothes together to make a rope and use that to swing into the story below and continuing.

Will watch this.

Spot the post by the guy who's never been trapped 100 stories up in a burning building. :rolleyes:

Hugh Hefner

Ah, it was really, really good. Very nicely made. The picture is quite striking indeed. It's not even aesthetically lovely by technical standards, it just feels deep.

Anyway, it wasn't people just deciding to jump, cregser. They were jumping as they were suffocating and the fire was close to them all. It was as a last resort after they had already tried all the exits and had been huddled in "safety" for a long time. It's not like they were jumping with a few hours of possible life left.

Pompey Magnus

cregser wrote:

The jumpers were just as shocking to me as the actual kamikaze terrorists on that day. Some people say they'd rather die than be a vegetable all their lives. I'd personally rather fight it out so can't understand that way of thinking.

I wonder would you say the same if you were choking to death with seering hot ash and smoke? I don't think these people were deciding on whether they preferred dying to being a "vegetable all their lives", they knew they were dead one way or another and decided on dying a quick (10 second) death over a long, slow suffocation.

Anyway it was all very sad and my heart goes out to all those who died on that day.

I was a very surprised to hear that they were still able to send emails from the top floors after the planes hit though, I would have thought all the electricity/telephone cables would have been destroyed by the fire?

el rabitos

just now I thought of tying people clothes together to make a rope and use that to swing into the story below and continuing.

sorry tarzan...was this before or after batman arrived on the scene?

and i suppose if the 1000 degree flames put batman off you would grab hold of supermans cape as he flew past the window?

Hugh Hefner

Depeche_Mode wrote:

I was a very surprised to hear that they were still able to send emails from the top floors after the planes hit though, I would have thought all the electricity/telephone cables would have been destroyed by the fire?

The wonder of back-up generators and wireless internet never ceases to amaze. What an age we live in.

ronbyrne2005

cregser wrote:

You can't believe that "force of the blast" thing in all seriousness. Just maybe, the force from the blast blew one or two people out and gave the rest the idea. But the way it was one person then another, then another told me it was suicides.

The jumpers were just as shocking to me as the actual kamikaze terrorists on that day. Some people say they'd rather die than be a vegetable all their lives. I'd personally rather fight it out so can't understand that way of thinking. But watching so many people jump made me realise how quickly some can give up on everything. If I was there I'd be too preoccupied trying to find a way out - just now I thought of tying people clothes together to make a rope and use that to swing into the story below and continuing.

Will watch this.

:rolleyes:

Jonny Arson

I only caught the last 50 minutes of the programme and I found it gripping stuff. Anything about 9/11 will always be a sensitive to people but from what I saw this show really showed a brave side to human nature rather than just the events of that day. I found it surprisingly nice viewing despite the fact I usually get very emotional seeing pictures of that day. It told a courageous story and did it well.

lomb

cregser wrote:

Some people say they'd rather die than be a vegetable all their lives. I'd personally rather fight it out so can't understand that way of thinking. But watching so many people jump made me realise how quickly some can give up on everything. If I was there I'd be too preoccupied trying to find a way out - just now I thought of tying people clothes together to make a rope and use that to swing into the story below and continuing.

They were chocking to death, there was no fresh air, the smoke was rising from 5-10 stories down, there was NO option. they were forced out by the smoke and then when they were out, there was even more smoke rising from below. many probably lost consciousness gripping some piece of metal or torn steel and fell. how do u call that suicide? no one sane would have jumped if they had a choice. They were murdered and their cause of death is listed as such.In any case- no one could tell for sure if anyone fell or were crushed, all the injuries were the same. the final reason was if the cause of death is listed as suicide then life insurance wont pay out.

ando

dammit I missed it. I really wanted to see it

Chucky the tree

missed it too. hopefully it will be repeated on More4 though. I remeber the film about the 3 brits in Guntanamo(sp) bay was.

SprostonGreen

Chucky the tree wrote:

missed it too. hopefully it will be repeated on More4 though. I remeber the film about the 3 brits in Guntanamo(sp) bay was.

I think the chances of it been on More4 is quite high, gotta love that channel.

Irish-trucker

damm i missed it too .
Really wanted to see it

Was it good ?

Ravage1616

I only got to see about half it but was very good! Wish i could have seen it all!

Dave!

Damn, didn't look at the date so thought it was tonight, set the video, then realised it was yesterday Harsh

GrumPy

DonkeyStyle \o/ wrote:

God, two hundred... when I was watching it on the news, it all seemed so unreal until I saw the footage of people jumping.

Actually, just reading that article, I'm not sure if I'd watch that documentary... I don't know what kind of gore they'd show just for sheer impact, and tbh it just smacks of someone cashing-in on 911 while trying to make it out as 'oh remember the heroes'... I don't know what to expect... some glorified snuff movie?
I gather the families of these unfortunate victims wouldn't be too pleased about footage of their loved ones plunging to their deaths being used as ratings fodder?
I don't know if this can be treated with the dignity it deserves.

You honestly thought footage of people hitting the ground would be shown on tv? yet alone captured on video?

cregser

adox wrote:

The most ill thoughtout,arrogant and insensitive post I have read in a long time.

Unlike the enlightened responses like the one quoted above, mine was posted before the program aired. Because they have received little coverage since, my memory of the falling people is 4 1/2 years old and of people on the street saying "people were jumping out of the windows". This gave me an image of people committing suicide, which I thought the show was about.

Having watched the show, I realise it was about a man so desperate for air and staying alive that he clambered on top of many people hanging out a 100 story restaurant window and likely fell out. He risked falling to his death rather than slowly suffocating.

I'm sure there were jumpers (like the guy who believes his wife did). But I guess it'll take more than a tv show to understand their mindset.

tunaman

cregser wrote:

Having watched the show, I realise it was about a man so desperate for air and staying alive that he clambered on top of many people hanging out a 100 story restaurant window and likely fell out. He risked falling to his death rather than slowly suffocating.

I'm sure there were jumpers (like the guy who believes his wife did). But I guess it'll take more than a tv show to understand their mindset.

As many as 200 people may have jumped or fallen from the twin towers that day but soon those people were never spoken about again - as if they never existed.

Hundreds of people were trapped and the door to the roof was even locked.
The jumpers chose to die a quick painless death instead of suffocating slowly from toxic smoke.

I know what I would have done as those last 10 seconds of the jumpers lives must have felt like flying.

SprostonGreen

SprostonGreen wrote:

I think the chances of it been on More4 is quite high, gotta love that channel.

Thats what I was going to ask.
I saw the 1st half hour of it and had to leave.
I couldnt record it as I was using a FTV card to watch ch4 and all recording is done now via sky +

Is there Anyone with digiguide on their pc who could look up this programme as to when it is on more4
More4 is on Skydigital and NTL digital

DonkeyStyle \o/

Irish GrumPy wrote:

You honestly thought footage of people hitting the ground would be shown on tv? yet alone captured on video?

Not hitting the ground, but after having read the article linked in the original post, I thought there was a remote possibility of grusome footage/images, yes.
There was mention in the article about gore images from 911 circulating the net, so evidentally there were some gross images taken on the day.
I've seen a lot of things in documentaries that I'd consider highly disturbing... like the charred corpses (from Iraq or Afghanistan I can't remember) shown in Farenheit 911.
I really wouldn't put it past some film makers to show rescue workers literally picking up the pieces.
Dunno, I think I just got a bit spooked from reading that article :eek:

daveirl

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