Images of September 11

Last night I attended a seminar at CASE - Religion, terror & film: reflections on 9/11. I found it absolutely fascinating and intellectually stimulating, so I thought I should share some notes on it. Greg Clarke spoke first, giving some theological thoughts on images.

Greg discussed the conflicting attitudes to images throughout the history of Christianity and Christian thought. From the Old Testament commands against making graven images to the use of symbolism of the early church – particularly the fish, and the bread and wine of communion. From the iconoclasm of the Reformers to the Romantic and liberal approach of experiencing God through religious art. From sociologist Jacques Ellul’s “Invasion of the Image” emptying the word of its power, to Archbishop Rowan Williams’ (did you know he’s a druid??) reclamation of the image as giving meaning to the word. Greg suggested a tri-partite Christian approach to imagery:

1. Suspicion. The basic biblical position is iconoclasm. From the OT commandments, to the NT focus on the Word of God and the false image of Christ, images are seen as a (potential?) distraction: leading us to worship the creation instead of the Creator.
2. Confidence. With our trust in the Ultimate Image we can act graciously towards other images, understanding them within the framework of the Image of God revealed in Jesus Christ. Greg came up with a nice phrase he was particularly chuffed about – “epiphanies, not theophanies.” We might experience some kind of meaning from an image, but it’s not going to be a revelation of God. An image may impress, but not save or sanctify.
3. Co-option. In Acts 17 with the altar to the unknown god, Paul co-opts Greek imagery to fit his own doctrinal pattern. Similarly, the ‘accidentally Christian’ imagery of 9/11 – e.g. the cross at the WTC site – can be appropriately (key point) co-opted for Christian apologetics.

The main focus of the evening was Justine Toh's talk on "Re-membering absent bodies". Justine is doing a PhD in Film Studies and Macquarie University. I can’t remember exactly how she articulated her topic, but she’s considering the way 9/11 is represented by imagery and artifacts. She recently returned from a research trip to the US, where she visited Ground Zero, some of the museum exhibits around there as well as in Washington, and interviewed a number of people.

I think the title of her talk here is really clever. “Re-membering absent bodies.” Not just recalling them to mind, but trying to put them back together, to restore their dignity, to be able to grieve properly. So many of the people killed in the attacks have just disappeared. All their families have to grieve over is a jar of dust. The bodies are absent, but in some way they are still present. The absent body is at the heart of 9/11 imagery and, as Justine points out, there is also an absent body at the heart of Christianity.

Justine commented on four films that are about or are connected to the 9/11 attacks: United 93, World Trade Center, War of the Worlds and The Falling Man. I was a little surprised at first by the inclusion of War of the Worlds. I’d forgotten how recently it was made. I started watching it earlier this year, but actually got a bit bored. By some strange coincidence, I think I actually turned it off just before the segment that Justine showed in the seminar – the part where these aliens start zapping people with the heat rays. It’s quite graphic. I thought there were body parts flying through the air, but apparently it was just clothes – the bodies had completely disappeared. All that was left was dust. There’s one part where you see a woman vaporised and Tom Cruise passes through the cloud of dust left behind. When he finally makes it back home, his children ask what this stuff all over him is. It’s quite powerful, particularly when seen in the context of 9/11. I think I should try watching it again.

It was a shame that there was such a small turn out to this seminar – only about 10 people. I have to say that anyone who didn’t come really missed out. This was probably the most fascinating CASE event I have been to so far. I’m not very philosophically inclined, so Greg’s talk on imagery was quite new to me. I love being exposed to these kinds of ideas – it’s like a whole new world has opened up, a new way of viewing things that I’ve never thought about before. And while I have an interest in pop culture, I don’t have a systematic background in cultural studies, and I’m generally not too critical in films, or very aware of the context and meaning of the imagery. I’m looking forward to reading Justine’s thesis when it’s done – it should be fantastic.

I would highly recommend Justine’s upcoming lecture at CASE – ‘Saviours on film – on September 26, 5pm at New College. Unfortunately I can’t make it, but hopefully it will be up on the CASE site eventually. And she has another one on November 28: ‘Spirituality on the screen’, which hopefully I will be able to attend.