MovieChat Forums > Remember Me (2010) Discussion > The movie was not about 9/11

The movie was not about 9/11

posted 12 years ago by melinda2001
16 replies | jump to latest

Perhaps the writers and film makers felt that the movie was really about 9/11, but in that case it would have to tell us something about the event. If the movie was instead about how everything we love can disappear in a moment, then you don't need 9/11, you just need an auto accident or something that happens to a lot more people.

If it was supposed to be about 9/11, it should have explained why so many people felt that it was worth dying for just to send us a message. Now that would be a useful thing because most Americans have no interest in understanding why so many people hate us so much. They are even proud about not knowing. That was a teachable moment. The only thing that this movie taught me about 9/11 was that it happened on a Tuesday.

[–] princeG 11 years ago

I mentioned this in the other thread, but I believe this movie was about how people handle grief after a shocking event.

It IS 'teaching' us in a subtle way about 9/11 and its effect on people: that good people lashing out (Tyler) is not the way to go, neither is over-protectiveness and isolation (Ally's father the cop), neither is retreating into work and materialism ('that's all there is' Tyler's father). The best-adjusted was probably Ally, even though she wouldn't ride the subway: she was majoring in sociology with a focus on criminalogy, and helping Tyler heal. Sounds like different factions in the US after 9/11 to me.

[–] flagstar16 11 years ago

I understand your point above, but I respectfully disagree. We see films all the time where someone dies in an auto accident or gets mugged and shot - our reactions to THOSE contrivances should be of the eye-rolling nature. Remember Me is unique in that its "twist" ending is simply the final scene through which the writer signs his letter to the audience. "Remember me" isn't a message from Tyler to Ally or his father or Caroline. "Remember me" is a directive from Will Fetters to us. It's a plea for us in the audience to remember and re-humanize an event in our history which is singular in every way and therefore can't really be judged as a plot device or contrivance like we might judge a car accident. That's the teachable moment - for in this day of bloated politics, blame games and rhetoric FULL of "this is why everyone hates us", America truly has forgotten the human face of 9/11.

[–] melinda2001 11 years ago

I'm happy to respectfully disagree but I do not understand what you mean by "the human face of 9/11". That event had nothing to do with the story other than to end it. My question is what are we to make of it in the context of what came before. I agree that 9/11 was a teachable moment, but I feel that we completely missed that opportunity. I certainly do not feel that the movie taught anything in that way except maybe that we should value our relationships more because they can be taken at any instant. I'll give it that, but as for the teachable nature of 9/11, I feel it was completely passed over. The movie would not have taught or felt any different to me had it instead ended with one of those eye-rolling accidents you described.

[–] PrivateBozz 11 years ago

I do not understand what you mean by "the human face of 9/11". That event had nothing to do with the story other than to end it.

Imo that's the point. It ended 'normal' lives - all of a sudden. For the people affected by 9/11 the event didn't exist before it actually happened, just as it is for the characters in this movie and for us, the viewers. Up to that point their lives weren't 'about' 9/11, just about the stuff they knew, and they lived as if they were going to continue that way.

I'm not american, so although it was a shocking event I experienced 9/11 with some kind of distance. This movie showed how the event cut into the lives of regular people, how they were involved in something suddenly that before hadn't been a part of their existence. At least not one they had known about.

So while there are of course other things that end lives as well, the fact that the people behind this movie chose 9/11 tells us that it is VERY MUCH about 9/11. It shows us that there's something else to an event like this than all the things everyone talks about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqlVPaZYOzQ

[–] norman-dostal 8 years ago

wow-so dumb-the ending was completely lazy writing and vile in that it disrespects every single person that died that day by making uo a crappy story and then using a real tragedy as its conclusion.
Thank god it bombed

[–] BrBaFett 11 years ago

The point of the movie is live life at the fullest, because you never know. Like we all didn't know that 9/11 was going to happen.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] melinda2001 11 years ago

The point of the movie is live life at the fullest

If that really was the point that the makers intended, then it's rather pointless because that is a major point in thousands of other movies. Certainly we all know that life is brief and we should make the most of it. I never mind being reminded of that fact, however I require that movies do more than that. This one had some nice character development and what seemed like a good start for a romantic drama, but felt very incomplete.

I know that lots of people will feel that that was intentional in order to remind us how brief and unfair life can be. That may even have been the maker's intentions but either way I would find it unsatisfying. For analogy, imagine a movie about someone born blind and learning to live among sighted people. How would you feel if the entire movie was in total blackness? Would you "watch" it? The maker's point would certainly be made but at far too high a price in my opinion. I'm going to guess that these makers really didn't know how to end the story and took an easy way out.

[–] imdelvian2 11 years ago

It's always frustrating to hear someone say the film-makers didn't know how to end the story so they took the easy way out. Because the writer built the rest of the story around the ending which was the point of the movie to begin with. So whether you like the movie or not please don't think the writer or director just didn't have an ending and flipped a coin. It was a very carefully written and thought out story, ending included.

But I always wonder if people actually believe that 'ending' accusation. I think everybody knows they had an ending and are just throwing one more insult

[–] melinda2001 11 years ago

I think everybody knows they had an ending and are just throwing one more insult

Well I'm certainly not someone that knows they had an ending, and I'm certainly not trying to insult anyone. I'm offended that you are accusing me of having bad intent. I certainly can't speak for those others who suspect last minute writing. I certainly have not heard from others who share my suspicions, but I am glad to know that I am not alone in this opinion. If the ending was always planned, then I'm happy to have guessed incorrectly, though in that case I would simply say that it didn't work for me. And for the record, I never suspected that they flipped a coin or did anything random. I'm sure they did the best they could.

[–] princeG 11 years ago

Melinda, please read http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/reacting-to-remember-me-an-interview-with -screenwriter-will-fetters/. The ending was always intended by the first-time screenwriter, but he didn't know how cynical critics could be.

[–] melinda2001 11 years ago

Melinda, please read http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/reacting-to-remember-me-an-interview-with -screenwriter-will-fetters/. The ending was always intended by the first-time screenwriter, but he didn't know how cynical critics could be.

Yes, that's good source material. This was the second time I read it and this time I was struck by just how leading the questions were and how supportive the interviewer. I hadn't realized that the interview was shortly after the movie opened and was largely panned by critics. Of course the writer would love to find a way to frame it in a good light. I would too in his position. I'm also ready to give him full credit in his intentions.

I can also see a way for both interpretations to be correct. I can imagine a writer with the idea of starting with a big disaster and then working backwards to show how petty problems can't compare with these big events. If that's how it happened, then we can call it an unintentional deus ex machina.

Or maybe it was a high-concept movie. There are implicit contracts that a movie maker has with the audience called "formula". Lots of great movies break some of those contracts, but attempting that comes with peril. Remember Me may one that tried and failed, but it was a good try.

[–] princeG 11 years ago

There are implicit contracts that a movie maker has with the audience called "formula". Lots of great movies break some of those contracts, but attempting that comes with peril. Remember Me may one that tried and failed, but it was a good try.

...and that's why I think the filmmakers (and later, people like me) found this first-time script so compelling. Will Fetters didn't know or disregarded the "formula" that critics expected him to follow.

He mentions that in that article, and his characters even allude to it: "flip the script", "I've seen this scene a hundred times", "You think you know me but you don't.". And, my interpretation here, 9/11 did not follow any previous formula that America was prepared for...

[–] melinda2001 11 years ago

OK then we largely agree though I don't think this has anything to do with American's or critic's tastes. We are all wired to like stories because that was how we successfully evolved, with old people passing on their wisdom to the kids. Within that framework there are certain things that must happen which the ancient Greeks codified: First establish an appropriate setting, then character introduction with at least one protagonist, and at least one character we can identify with. Then the protagonist person must face a problem, then comes a resolution, and finally a denouement. In the process, someone needs to change. This is a pretty immutable list. This movie leaves out some of these key elements which I'm sure is why it got poor reviews both from critics and moviegoers.

[–] princeG 11 years ago

I see all formula elements present in RM (at multiple levels and timelines):

Appropriate setting: NYC
Character introduction with at least one protagonist:everyone with Tyler as flawed protagonist (young self-absorbed America)
At least one character we can identify with: Tyler or Ally depending how well-adjusted one feels (young America) or maybe the fathers if you're a parent (older WW America or older countries).
Protagonist must face a problem: brother's suicide, father's indifference, sister's bullying (at the larger scope, it's the suicide pilots causing destruction of the American family, America feeling betrayed and lashing out)
Resolution: Tyler sees father's love, forgives brother, accepts his life is ok (still in progress for America)
Denouement: 9/11 for Tyler (start of America's grief stages).
Someone needs to change: Tyler finds brief moment of peace, father connects with daughter, Ally takes subway, etc. (America needs to go through its stages of grief as Tyler did.)

My interpretation... I'm not sure if Fetter consciously intended all this but I think he was attuned to it... Maybe too complex and/or ambitious for some but worked for me.

[–] hellnback1234 8 years ago

The problem with using real world events like these is the same problem with using real worl items or food chains as plot devices or settings... it takes you out of the movie then. Like having a Pizza Hut logo in the background is fine but making Pizza Hut itself a setting then takes you out of the experience. "Oh hey it's Pizza Hut."

The OP is right that they should have just ended it on a made up accident, perhaps when he was riding his bike. That even fits the character better given that he biked everywhere.

If you aren't making a movie that is about 9/11 then don't use it to simply kill off a character. It's a nice twist I suppose but the movie didn't really build up around it.It kind of just came out of nowhere but in a forced sort of way. Like they knew they wanted to kill him off at the end but then someone suggested 9/11 because they thought it'd be smart and it just sort of made "good" an otherwise excellent film.