Coney Island shooting gallery target, 2004Reflecting on the 9/11 attacks, six years later, can seem masochistic or manipulative. It's perhaps more interesting, or more useful, to look back at our initial reactions.
In 2004, the paper targets at the Coney Island shooting gallery featured a hand-drawn Osama Bin Laden. The game operators thought I was a little crazy for wanting to buy a copy before it was shot up, but I had to have it. I don't want to crush it by analyzing it, or demean it by calling it "folk art." It's pure image-making: from the gut and very Brooklyn. I wonder if the booth lost money that season from a jump in target-shooting accuracy?
Comments [17]
09.11.07
08:29
It would be interesting to spend some time at the booth and listen to the responses of passersby. Did you get a chance to do that, Rob?
09.11.07
09:21
Logos for Terrorist Organizations
Who knew they were so into red stars?
09.11.07
09:58
Please accept my apology for the original comment. Still have strong feelings about the attacks and -- it seems-- was reacting to that, not your article.
So -- more on topic -- saw several of these (or very similar) back in 02-03. Haven't seen many since.
Very Respectfully,
09.11.07
10:20
Dedicated to the memory of Scott O'Brien, age 40
09.11.07
11:13
09.11.07
11:45
Much like when talking with anyone about politics, or tragedies on American soil, you've kinda missed the point. There is an image attached to that statement of masochism you may have missed.
The image IS masochist, the post isn't asking "is it righteous?". Hatred of his character, whether informed, mis-informed, lead or mis-lead is a whole other issue. It is an interesting image, that has nothing to do with honoring those who perished on September 11th.
09.11.07
02:00
"Last summer at the Jersey shore" should never be a barometer for our culture, mind you...
09.11.07
02:38
Chris, I wish I had listened to passersby the afternoon I collected this, but I wasn't in a journalistic frame of mind that afternoon; I was just being *at* Coney Island.
09.11.07
05:26
09.11.07
08:18
09.11.07
09:39
09.11.07
11:29
One of the greatest post 9/11 tragedies is that our intial feelings of shock, horror, sadness, etc. got subverted into feelings of hatred, revenge, and blind patriotism. Our leadership has both fostered and preyed upon those feelings and used them as an excuse to act in a way that is wholly despicable. People talk about honoring the memories of those tragically lost on 9/11, but I think our nation's actions speak louder than words. We, as a nation, have not done a very good job of honoring and respecting the lives tragically lost on 9/11. We've squandered those initial feelings by chanelling them into a pointless and endless war.
I do not mean to ignore the feelings of those who lost loved ones on 9/11, or in the follow up wars. It is the greatest possible tragedy. My deepest sympathy goes to all who have been directly affected by these tragedies.
09.12.07
09:05
in early 2002, i went to a shooting gallery at a carnival in Medford, Massachusetts (just north of Boston) and took aim at a similar Osama star mouth, right down to the helicopter and air plane. still have the shot-out ticket, too, hanging above my desk.
i suspect that a lot of these were cranked out and circulating around midways across America, and they are not unique to Brooklyn (though i wouldn't doubt their originating there).
09.12.07
01:46
That said, it's been six years since 9/11. In that time we've had almost 300,000 US citizens die in car crashes, and several *million* have died of cancer, and separately, of circulatory conditions.
During the Blitz in London, there was an 9/11 equivalent every week or so for nine months. We dealt.
But we used 9/11 to dismantle all the things about America that made it great -- now we're the country of war and torture in the face of much of the world.
Get over it, already. Take the energy you're wasting, and use it to fight against drunk drivers, for better health care, against this stupid war that has already killed a hundred times as many innocents as died in 9/11!
09.12.07
05:44
09.13.07
05:57
09.18.07
08:01