9/11

9/11 was the most devastating terror attack on American soil, and consequently its repercussions are still felt 15 years later. Examine how 9/11 influenced American media, in both the immediate aftermath and more long-term reflections. Don’t focus just on films and TV shows about 9/11, but look more at how it informed film aesthetics, story-lines, and how we depict terrorism and political issues in film and television (e.g., how depictions of destruction changed in the advent of 9/11, analyzing the 9/11-like imagery of films such as Spielberg’s War of the Worlds, and the DC Cinematic Universe). Focus on specific themes these films tackle in the wake of 9/11, such as PTSD, fear of the unknown threat, and, again, the proper response to terrorism.

When analyzing literature from the early half of the 20th century, there are clear changes in writers before and after the World Wars. The biggest shift came after the Great War, as this was the first war of this scale, with such a large body count, and with new technologies and conventions.

Now that we are coming up on 15 years after 9/11, I suspect we can see a shift in pop culture following the attack on the Twin Towers, and analyze what the shift was, how it affected each medium, and how long the shit remained.

There were works created specifically in response to the attack, including Bruce Springsteen’s The Rising as well as Frank Miller’s controversial follow-up to the Dark Knight Returns: The Dark Knight Strikes Again (at least in part as stated in Miller’s forward to the Dark Knight Saga hardcover).Other works that were written before the attacks were deeply patriotic were brought back into the pop culture, notably Proud to be an American.

Examine pop culture before the attacks (late 90’s-mid 2001), immediately after the attacks (late 2001-2002), a couple years after *2003-2005), 5-10 years after (2006-2011), and contemporary works.