A Simple Movie and Comic Book Critic Reflects on 9/11

I was in line the other day at the store waiting to buy some items and couldn't help overhearing a woman talking to a friend of hers. There were shirts displayed on an end cap of the aisle. They had the silhouette of the Twin Towers and underneath them was the slogan "Remember 9/11." She was pretty irate about the shirt and angrily commented to her friend that we shouldn't "celebrate" 9/11. She said it was a horrible tragedy that we need to just ignore every year and not remember. I believe she said that we need to forget it or something of that nature.

This woman has completely missed the whole point of why we acknowledge that the tragic events of 9/11 happened every year. We're not celebrating the day. We're bringing attention to the day as a reminder to not forget all the men and women that were victims of these senseless terrorist attacks. To figuratively "erase" the date of 9/11 from our calendars and act as if it never happened is to insult the memories of thousands of people who lost and gave their lives that day ten years ago.

It's hard to know the right way to say things sometimes. What are the right words that we're searching for? Honestly, I don't know any more than a lot of people do. I do know that on September 11, 2001 I realized that there were a whole lot more good and God-fearing people left in this country than I thought there were. That was shown through the hundreds and thousands of people that band together to help clean up the devastation and counsel the survivors and families of the victims.

I think the simplest thing to say is just, "I remember. I won't forget." Sometimes that's all we can say. We'll remember and won't forget those who lost their lives, gave their lives saving people, or were involved in any way with the tragedy.

The pieces of art I posted are meant to honor anyone and everyone involved in the terrorist attacks on 9/11. One is of Captain America saluting the volunteers and victims and was drawn by an unknown artist. The other is of Superman and Krypto looking at a billboard showing firefighters, police, doctors, and citizens who helped and/or gave their lives on 9-11. He simply states, "Wow!" while gazing on it. It was drawn by well-known artist Alex Ross.

Eric Shirey is the founder and editor of Rondo Award nominated movie and comic book news websites MovieGeekFeed.com and TheSpectralRealm.com. He also served as a news reporter for the award winning movie website GordonandtheWhale.com. His work has been featured on Yahoo! Movies, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! TV, Associated Content from Yahoo!, DC Comics, StarWars.com, and other national entertainment websites. He is currently a Featured Contributor of Arts & Entertainment for the Yahoo! Contributor Network. Eric has interviewed and worked with iconic movie and TV actors like Harrison Ford, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Brooke Shields, Brendan Fraser, Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez, Gene Simmons, and many more. Besides his three decades long obsession with everything sci-fi, horror, and fantasy related in TV and movies, Eric has what some would call an unhealthy love for comic books. This has led him to interviewing and covering legendary writers and artists in the medium like Scott Snyder, Steve Niles, Bernie Wrightson, and Howard Chaykin. His personal website is www.ersink.com.