Spike Lee’s new joint, a four-part documentary love letter to his city that’s called NYC EPICENTERS 9/11➔2021½, premiered this past weekend on HBO ahead of the 20th anniversary of the day that the Twin Towers fell at the hands of terrorists. Lee brings his quintessential New York voice to weave a vibrant tapestry from hundreds of interviews from residents, first respondents, journalists, and politicians. The end result takes the ongoing pandemic and also the Black Lives Matter movement into account for all the positives and negatives that the city has experienced for two decades.
The limited series, as well, is a provocative one, and that includes Spike Lee indulging interviews with conspiracy theorists in the final episode. While speaking with the New York Times, Lee explains why he included the perspectives of a truther group called Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, and that’s because, well, he doesn’t necessarily disagree. “I mean, I got questions,” Lee admitted. “And I hope that maybe the legacy of this documentary is that Congress holds a hearing, a congressional hearing about 9/11.”
If you’re wondering if Spike Lee might put himself in the jet-fuel-can’t-melt-steel camp, that answer would be, uh, yep:
“The amount of heat that it takes to make steel melt, that temperature’s not reached. And then the juxtaposition of the way Building 7 fell to the ground – when you put it next to other building collapses that were demolitions, it’s like you’re looking at the same thing. But people going to make up their own mind.”
Lee stresses that he’s not attempting to change anyone’s mind about what happened on 9/11 in Manhattan on that horrible day. Rather, he insists, “My approach is put the information in the movie and let people decide for themselves. I respect the intelligence of the audience.” Well, now that’s all out there, and HBO’s NYC EPICENTERS 9/11➔2021½ currently airs on Sunday evenings.
(Via New York Times)
