9/11 Tribute- When the World Stopped Turning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW8puRqE4Sc

This video was put on YouTube in 2007. Like many other tributes to the 9/11 tragedy it is a montage of videos, news footage and pictures put to emotive music. The first thing I noticed about the tribute was the choice of music: a song called ‘Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)’. Indeed even the title of the song suggests American exceptionalism; this event didn’t just affect America but the whole world. The song is quite religious in tone and talks of the power of faith, prayer and love. It reflects the American idea of all coming together in a time of need under God: ‘did you go to church and hold hands with some strangers’. This tone is also shown in images such as two metal grinders that make a cross. As well as this it talks of taking strength in family, community and helping each other; all of these factors are central in America’s ideology. The song itself is typically American country in style, this ties in well with the images of flags and landmarks in the video because it emotes a feeling of patriotism and a sense that America is unified under grief.

The repeated images of the disaster actually happening reflects the fact that America was so shocked that something like this would happen to them; this shows American exceptionalism. In particular, the news footage seems the most shocking because of the sense of disbelief. However, as well as these images there are images of the heroes who were there, people together in panic, people helping each other and people together in mourning; these people are diverse in race, ethnicity and gender therefore again this shows a sense of America being united in this grief. The video ends with an image of soldiers and the text ‘America Stands Strong. Never Forget September 11, 2001’; this is suppose to remind people of the war against terrorism and the reasoning behind it while evoking a feeling of pride and hope.