I live in Astoria, Queens, New York City. This is the home of the Kaufman Astoria Studios, formerly Paramount Studios, where early Broadway stars, such as The Marx Brothers, filmed some of their first movies in the early days of talkies. Astoria is six train stops away from Manhattan.
Yesterday in New York, there was hardly a cloud in the sky. It was perhaps the most beautiful day, weatherwise, we've had in the city all summer. After following the news for most of the day, I had to take a break, and so I walked down my block and looked out at the Manhattan skyline. The only cloud I saw was the one coming from the spot where The World Trade Center buildings used to stand.
While watching television and seeing the planes smash into the Twin Towers, seeing the damage inflicted at The Pentagon, watching The Twin Towers crumble into dust before my eyes, I felt like I was in the middle of a science-fiction movie. INDEPENDENCE DAY, WAR OF THE WORLDS, EARTH VS. FLYING SAUCERS. Movies that create a fantasy world where aliens from outer space destroy national monuments and landmarks. I see Charlton Heston in my mind, looking at the crumbled ruins of The Statue of Liberty, pounding his hands into the sand and screaming "Damn you! Damn you all to hell!"
I see Godzilla stomping buildings into dust, while hundreds run in the streets in terror.
I kept having the strange feeling all day that I could simply rewind this movie and return it to the video store for a happier one. Something with Sandra Bullock or Ben Stiller. Something where Neve Campbell and Matthew Perry fall in love. Fred and Ginger dancing the night away.
But I knew I couldn't do that. This was no movie, no fantasy. What was once exciting fiction had now become a horrifying reality. I woke up this morning to hear the roar of U.S. fighter jets patrolling New York City.
There is shock and anger all across America today, and grief all over the civilized world.
Several years ago, terrorists struck The World Trade Center, setting a bomb off in the basement. Their intent was to destroy the building, but the building stood. Yesterday, September 11, 2001, both twin towers crumbled, destroyed by madmen who might as well be tentacled creatures from outer space.
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