The Falling Man: 2001 – 2021
August 17, 2021 By Ben Domenech
Without the first, the second would not exist. There is an alternate reality where neither of them exists, but as it stands, they both simultaneously inhabit this one. These images of men falling through the sky have different causes and motivations, but they both symbolize a desperation of spirit that is deeply human even as their position in space seems otherworldly, buffeted by forces of history far beyond their control.
Richard Drew’s photograph of a man falling through the sky on 9/11 proved controversial almost instantly. People felt it was exploiting death as opposed to appreciating life. The thoughts of so many who leapt away from the flames and suffocation at the top of the towers – by some estimates, as many as one in ten of those who died in Manhattan that day – is deeply disturbing to some people.
What those who fell on 9/11 had in common with the Afghans you saw falling from the wheel wells of that C-17 is that nobody thought they were surviving the jump.
Understand, the Afghans who fell from the C-17 didn’t think they were getting out. They’re not stupid. It’s a choice. An uncertain death of desperation vs. A certain death at the hands of your enemies. Falling alone through space in Allah’s blue sky is better than watching your daughter and son being raped as you are strung up by your own bloody entrails to serve as a message to your neighbors.
more
https://thefederalist.com/2021/08/17/the-falling-man-2001-2021/
