Prof. Melanie Finney Discusses 9/11-Related Art with Baltimore Sun

September 10, 2006

September 10, 2006, Greencastle, Ind. - "Right now, the only artistic treatments that people will accept are those that depict the survivors and the people killed as heroes," Melanie K. Finney, associate professor of communication at DePauw University, tells the Baltimore Sun. Dr. Finney is quoted in a story that examines the movies, songs and other works (such as the recent films United 93 and World Trade Center) which focus on the events of September 11, 2001 and their aftermath.

"I don't think we're ready yet to have artworks that put the bad guys in a sympathetic light," the professor continues. "People's emotions are still too raw.We are not ready yet to talk about why this happened in the first place, why the Americans are hated, and the problems we've created in the Middle East."

The Sun's Mary McCauley writes that Finney "guesses that those sorts of explorations might start occurring in about three years, once the memorial at Ground Zero is dedicated. 'Memorials provide a sense of emotional closure,' says Finney, who is writing a book called When Tragedy Strikes the Academy, about how universities have coped with multiple deaths on campus. 'People have something tangible to see and visit, and then they can go back to their regular lives. They can visit the memorial site and grieve, and move on.'"

Read the complete story, "Drawing light from concrete and smoke" -- which also includes comments from musician Tom Paxton -- at the newspaper's Web site. Learn more about Melanie Finney in this previous article.

Source: Baltimore Sun

Back