New York City

I noticed that both movies portray the peaceful and beautiful side of NYC by showing famous parks and monuments. On the other hand both movies show sides of the city that are not so peaceful. Despite the bombing of terrorists and the corporations trying to take over the little guy NYC will always be a beautiful place.

The World Trade Center
This movie is based on true events which took place on September 11, 2001 in New York City. The movie shows more of what would have happened if you were right in one of the buildings when it got hit. The story follows a few local firefighters into the first building. As the movie goes on it focuses on only two characters, John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno. These two men were stuck under the rubble for many hours and some how survived.

During the first five minutes of the movie the city is being portrayed as majestic, beautiful, scenic, clean, and peaceful. I get this impression from the mood the music set and from the unique pictures of the city's more famous places. It gives the feeling of the stereotypical New York by showing the parks, tall buildings, famous statues, downtown and the ocean. But soon the city begins to get frantic as the buildings are hit. During the movie I noticed that the police take the public transportation to the first building. This seems odd to me because I pictured a bunch of cop cars with the lights flashing and the sirens blaring. This movie continues on to show the audience how the men felt trapped under the rubble while also flashing to the families and showing how they felt not knowing if their husband/father/brother etc., were going to be okay.
Finally, after people are saved and the buildings get cleaned up NYC is still beautiful in the end.


You've Got Mail
This movie is about a woman named Kathleen Kelly and a man named Joe Fox who both own bookstores in New York City. The movie shows the constant battle between corporations and independently owned stores. The difference between the two is that Fox represents the big box stores while Kelly is trying to maintain her mother's independently owned bookstore. The corporations are portrayed as being 'nothing but a suit', impersonal, big, and they pressure you into making decisions. When it comes to the little guy the movie shows the independently owned stores multiple times. A line that stuck out in my mind is "Save the shop around the corner, save your soul." This stuck out in my mind because of how true it is. If we are not careful there will be nothing left but corporations and we will be forced to buy everything from the same place.

You've Got Mail is set in New York and portrays it well but I can not help but think about what the underlying message is about corporations. Not only is it the main topic in this movie but it is also a topic that is being discussed in another one of my classes. We recently watched a documentary called The Corporation which is a film about the rise of corporations since they have been in existence. The corporations are looked at from a psychological point of view where the question "What kind of a person is a corporation" is asked and analyzed. There are many interview with many corporate insiders and critics such as Michael Moore and Naomi Klein.

I noticed that both movies portray the peaceful and beautiful side of NYC by showing numerous famous monuments and parks. I will always think of NYC as a fun and interesting place even after 9/11 but I'm sure that is very different for those people who still deal with repercussions. Some people have to deal with the loss of a family member or a friend. Some people even still suffer from heath problems related to the dust and rubble of the fallen towers.
I had learned about these health issues not too long ago when I saw the Michael Moore documentary Sicko. This documentary talks about some of the volunteer workers who are suffering from health problems after volunteering countless hours at the clean up. Part of the reason these people are still sick, after 7 years, is because they are either being denied the health care they need or they do not have the money for it. These people still have to deal with 9/11.