Analysis of my film-watching experience

The film centered on the United States government’s failure to adequately warn, prepare, and compensate workers for the environmentally unsound conditions of “Ground Zero” in Manhattan. Whereas Environmental Protection Agency representative Christie Todd Whitman assured the public that Manhattan’s air quality was safe under the direction of the Whitehouse Council on Environmental quality, workers self-entitled the “Forgotten Heroes” throughout the film were developing such medical maladies as respiratory infections and Asthma. Although most Americans remain physically untouched by the trauma faced in Manhattan on September 11^th 2001, the workers at the site have suffered medical problems resulting from their work at Ground Zero that affects their every day experiences and major life events.

Workers at Ground Zero without gas masks breathed in toxic green smoke comprised of debris in the air that was initially declared “safe for habitation” by the Environmental Protection Agency without provided gas masks until September 14^th, at which point the government issued gas masks with removable filtration chambers that were heavy and hot to wear, causing many people to simply refuse to wear them. Because there was nobody there to enforce the need to wear the masks, many workers went mask-less and are now suffering the consequences. Although the film centered on the lack of people there to enforce wearing the masks, I don’t want to seem harsh but since the masks were provided to all workers it seems odd to me that these people would seek compensation for respiratory problems caused by their own refusal to wear the masks. I was surprised that their reason for wearing the masks was for many that it was “annoying” to have to keep emptying the filters throughout the day. Wouldn’t one assume it would be more annoying to suffer the consequences of breathing in the things the filters are full of if you don’t wear the mask? I couldn’t find any common sense in their argument. There claim was that they sought reimbursement for medical problems caused by the lack of supervisors present to enforce wearing the government issued gas masks, and the workers were angered that their medical problems that developed after Friday September 14^th were no longer considered to be caused by terrorist attacks (thus no longer falling under the protection of government funding) because the government provided the workers with the means to avoid such respiratory problems; the workers decisions not to wear the provided masks caused respiratory problems that were considered to be the workers own fault.

I was shocked that during the scenes replaying the footage from the morning of September 11^th, during which time the buildings were hit by planes and then collapsed, the Grass-roots club that hosted the film was offering around popcorn and eating like nothing was happening, as if they were completely de-sensitized to the material In front of them. The end of the film also surprised me because after you watch these workers walking through the halls of the senate and seeking out advocates to back them in their attempt to re-allocate government funds to help cover the medical costs of the 9-11 workers now suffering respiratory and other health problems, the viewer realized the film was a Hilary Clinton paid advertisement in her campaign for senator as New York State and advocated her as a candidate.