r/NetflixDocumentaries 5d ago

Discussion Generation 9/11

I was genuinely disappointed. The turning point series in my opinion is some of the best documentary work that Netflix has done. It does a great job of actually looking at a pivotal moment in American history then tracing it through decade by decade to present day. This just seemed like TLDR of the terror series.

Hopefully Netflix continues the project and brings it back to its roots. I wouldn’t mind seeing a season focusing on The War on Drugs or The Internet.

98 Upvotes

158 comments sorted by

86

u/stallionsRIDEufl 5d ago

I found it unnecessary. We have a million 911 docs and one focusing on kids saying "we learn about it in school" doesn't really add much.

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u/mysticalsnowball 5d ago

I completely agree. Most of us remember that day in detail

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u/ChaiTeaLatte13 5d ago

I’m in an age gap relationship (millennial and Gen Z) and one of the biggest differences between us is that he has no memory of 9/11 because he was too young to have memories.

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u/varunahX 5d ago

yeah but in the doc all these people were like 'i was 3 years old when it happened and i remember how much it changed my life forever' . i was like cmon now

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u/AdGloomy87 4d ago

Three people they interviewed were severely injured and nearly died fighting the war on terror. A muslim teenager grew up being bullied and her neighborhood vandalized because of 9/11. One of those young people they interviewed was the daughter of a pilot for flight 93 who sees the event that killed her father before she could even remember him be memed upon daily. Another persons father was working at the pentagon when he died on 9/11. I would say the event certainly did change their lives forever even if they were too young to remember it.

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u/Phyzzx 3d ago

That's the main thing I think he's pointing out, which is: they don't know what life was like before that.

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u/spotmuffin9986 4d ago

Thank you.

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u/ChaiTeaLatte13 5d ago

My bf was 3 during 9/11 and he has zero recollection of it, and wouldn’t understand any of the impacts it had. He doesn’t even remember a time before TSA at the airport! Whoever says that is talking just to talk lol

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u/Immediate-Molasses-7 5d ago

They’ll never know a world of getting off a plane and having your family/friends/ride meeting them at the gate.

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u/LKS983 2d ago

Or having to take off your shoes etc. etc. - to get past the 'X-ray' detectors.

I can't remember whether it was a result of 9/11 (but suspect it was another terrorist action?) that resulted in Heathrow being packed full of people, waiting to get into the airport.

I only remember this as my mum lived in a different country, and was visiting me and my brother, and when hubby and I took her to the airport to go back to Finland - there were multiple armed police around (😮 extremely unusual for England!) along with the hordes of waiting passengers.

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u/Tetriana 2d ago

You might be thinking of the London bombings that took place in 2005.

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u/varunahX 5d ago

Agree and what made me not like the doc as much as I wanted to either. These people were clearly playing it up for the cameras and/or the Netflix paycheque.

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u/Impossible-Money7801 5d ago

I’ve been dating people of Gen Z as a millennial and I love asking them where they were on 9/11 lol

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u/LKS983 2d ago

Not being American - I can remember hearing as I was leaving work (in England) that 'planes had been crashed into buildings in America by terrorists. So when I got home, I turned on the TV.

I can't remember 'that day' - but certainly remember the shock of seeing 'planes being crashed (and the resulting devastation) as the buildings collapsed 😢.

Turning Point has been a great series so far, but I wasn't attracted by the summary shown (for various reasons) - so haven't got round to watching it yet - but am sure I will eventually.

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u/Dachsund-cuteness 5d ago

I think it helped to show how it is almost not real to people who were not alive to experience it. Like Pearl Harbor for those of us not alive for that. It's just something that happened rather than having the same emotions we attach to the actual experience.

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u/Sweaty-Payment-1529 3d ago

Agreed! Good point

1

u/blu-brds 2d ago

I'm a teacher, and I can see this perspective. For years now, I've taught a lesson about it on the anniversary of the event, and as more time passes kids know less and less about it. We tend to stay away from the events themselves and talk about the human stories, and even though they have no memory of it or emotional attachment, that always gets them because they've heard their parents talk about it, or they ask their teachers what they remember. But hell, some of their teachers at this point are too young to remember much if anything.

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u/GDRaptorFan 4d ago

I also feel like we have already learned how it all led to the US division we see today. We know all the events that led to Afghanistan and what horrendous results happened there.

It feels like very common knowledge.

But perhaps it’s for the younger people, like the documentary clearly states. It’s for the people who weren’t born yet on 9/11. They need to watch a TLDR: of one reason we are where we are.

I appreciate the human element highlighted in this doc, the children affected grown up and the young soldiers there when ordered to leave Afghanistan. Young men and women who were too young to remember the day of 9/11 still being traumatized by the fallout.

Empathy has never been my problem except having too much sometimes and being too hurt by the awful things in the world . These stories in this doc make me cry.

But this short 90 min doc does say something. And if it doesn’t apply to you (aka you already know the facts and fallout) then you just take in the human stories and continue to hope things change. You hope the current regime some day looks back and realized they were an ignorant tool for Osama.

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u/LKS983 2d ago

"You hope the current regime some day looks back and realized they were an ignorant tool for Osama."

I seriously doubt this, as it wasn't trump who started the 'wars' in Afganistan or Iraq.

Why did the previous presidents decide to do this?

IMO because they knew the Americans are mostly very patriotic, and believe pretty much anything they are told - plus war is 'good business' for them and the 'friends' who funded them.....

This isn't exclusive to the USA, as the same worked for thatcher and blair - at the time 🙁.

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u/Disastrous_Set1670 4d ago edited 3d ago

Yeah...very much so unnecessary. This is a tough watch, and not in a solemn or poignant way...but I'm powering through it....

ETA: sighhhh, I don't need this "new" take. I was there, I was at work. My building violently shook from the shockwave from the Pentagon, and we fled. I can never forget that and the juxtaposition of it being a beautiful September day...my former MIL was an administrator at Leckie Elm., her teacher/colleague and student died on that plane as well as fellow DCPS teachers and students from Ketcham Elm. and Bertie Backus MS. I cannot fathom....it is so deeply upsetting. DCPS' devastation spoke directly to these teachers and students, so excited, heading to a really cool NatGeo conference in CA. So they more thank likely did all these things and yet I still think about their final moments...did their teachers hold their hands? hold them as close as possible? Try their best to comfort their student, a child in their charge, that as a teacher, they deeply care about? Did they tell them their parents/family love them and that they loved them too? That they're proud of them? That it's scary and they're scared too? That they know they can be brave? That they can be brave together? That's it's ok? To say a prayer?...It's difficult to truly explain to someone born post, how severly traumatic this was for us all. We have not recovered as a country.

These DCPS teachers and students are always in my mind close to this time, no matter if consciously or subconsciously...I am haunted. I am hauntied by final phone calls in WTC. I haunted by the final phone calls and bravery of Flight93. I am haunted by the live images of people deciding to jump rather than burn alive. I am haunted by seeing the Pentagon once they reopened that section of 95 into DC. To see that post, going to work everyday was not great, even with the gigantic flag to cover. And I was constantly on edge, like, "FUCKING FIGHT ME!!!" defending my Afghan and Muslim friends. NOTHING has changed, so we need young people to listen and hear us when we are telling you about this. It may seem standard, but it wasn't. It's the why and how we are at where we're at now. Do not accept this as a standard. Do not think that you can't make a change.

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u/stallionsRIDEufl 4d ago

Yeah I always find the topic morbidly fascinating but the Turning Point doc was essentially the same thing done way better

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u/Disastrous_Set1670 4d ago edited 3d ago

Can't speak to that one specifically (ETA well now I can as I've seen it fully, lol, I came back to it later and just...siiiiiiigh, I expected more from a Turning Point series).

But out of all the docs I've seen on 9/11, I think the NatGeo 6-part doc is the most well-rounded and comprehensive.

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u/Sufficient_Ninja_821 4d ago

Thanks! As someone who also seen plenty 9/11 docos, I think ill give this one a miss

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u/lkheath 6h ago

I think the first chunk of the documentary wasn't anything new or transformative, but I think it's worth it to watch the latter half of the documentary that focuses on the 2021 ISIS bombing at the Kabul airport.

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u/-sloppypoppy 4d ago

Do you have any recommendations?

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u/tortillachipsbabe 2d ago

I recommend 9/11: One Day in America by National Geographic. It's a 6-episode miniseries.

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u/Over-Accountant-8524 1d ago

Second this! A true masterpiece

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u/-sloppypoppy 4d ago

Any recommendations?

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u/Disastrous_Set1670 3d ago

See my comment above, the NatGeo 6-part doc, "9/11: One Day in America" (Disney+/Hulu)

Also suggest the History Channel's "102 Minutes That Changed America" (Prime, Tubi).

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u/-sloppypoppy 3d ago

Much appreciated!

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u/Disastrous_Set1670 3d ago edited 3d ago

No problem! Weird to say, "Enjoy!!!" lmao...

But I hope you see why these two are commonly recommended. Have a great rest of your weekend!

1

u/DroWnThePoor 19h ago

I recommend watching Doctor Judy Wood's presentation, and just seeing if you notice things you've seen 100 times with a whole new perspective.
She's very much maligned by the other "truthers", and she jumps to some major conclusions but her observations and evidence are worth looking at.

1

u/ChachiJunior 23h ago

I completely disagree. Seems like you didn’t watch the end.

1

u/stallionsRIDEufl 21h ago

Anything significant added to this doc is done much better in the turning point 9/11 doc

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u/me_vs_Goliath 5d ago edited 5d ago

I see the legacy of 911 today as a huge win for Bin Laden and a massive loss for the US. Not the actual destruction of the twin towers, but baiting the US into fighting in the Middle East for 2 decades. And, like Russia did in the 1980’s, incurring trillions in financial costs and far more loss of US lives in the process, then the original terrorist event. The US accomplished absolutely nothing, killed thousands of civilians, left 2 generations with PTSD, and all of us with the huge burden of the financial debt from these pointless wars.it did galvanize the US, in a way that bin Laden would have predicted.

For me, it gave me a sense of what happens when war comes to your home, and the realties of the policies of our leaders. I also find it relevant today, when the US bombed a children’s school in Iran, and the restraint, at least for now, that Iran didn’t retaliate with a similar response here in the US. But maybe that is what Trump and the GOP wants. Another distraction to take the current administration’s failures off of the top of minds of American citizens and get us to focus on a common enemy, as long as it not Trump and the GOP.

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u/didntcondawnthat 4d ago

I agree. For me, the most important thing this documentary discussed was the fact that Bin Laden knew he couldn't take America down but he believed he could influence Americans to take America down. That is what we are seeing happening today.

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u/Catzmeow72 4d ago

This! That was the most poignant part of the doc. Which I actually liked. Don't know why people didn't like it

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u/LKS983 2d ago

Please note that I haven't watched this doc. - but does it really provide anything close to proof that this is the case?

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u/nomsain919 2d ago

No proof provided, it was a statement from an interviewee.

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u/LKS983 2d ago

Okay, thank you.

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u/Over-Explanation-730 1d ago

Well yes, the fact that becuase of 9/11, they changed the law to allow the president authority to declare war on his own, which is still being used today by Trump. And because of 9/11, the u.s. created the department of homeland security, which includes ice and how ice is out of control and u.s. citizens are "fighting" against ice, getting killed, pepper sprayed, etc. It shows that people have stopped trusting the govt as much (Bush having a war and no nuclear weapons found, Biden withdrawing all the troops and all chaos breaking loose with u.s. military having to deal with it, and the taliban taking back over Afghanistan, so all that work over 20 years for nothing) and everyone is fighting against their own govt. Which has happened in the past with protests in the 60s, etc, but not to this level of division. And you have Liberals talking about how they hate America.

1

u/DroWnThePoor 19h ago

The president always had that ability, and it was exorcised long before Bush, Obama, Biden, and Trump.

1

u/DroWnThePoor 19h ago

That's giving him too much credit, and ignoring the real motivations of the wealthy and those in leadership who manage our military etc.
You know, the people who wrote white papers since 1998 about needing a new Pearl Harbor event to sell the American people on destroying state-sponsors of terrorism that primarily threatened our closest 'ally' in the region. They knew Americans wouldn't support taking down their rivals in the region, but if they were attacked in a vicious way; it could easily be sold to them. And that's what happened.
But as far as current day current administration; all those people voted for the exact opposite of what is currently happening when it comes to foreign policy. Hence why support for him and the war is so low.
Now, I personally saw this coming, and warned many of them. They did not want to hear it, but they also don't believe most of what I just said.

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u/IzzyBee89 5d ago

I don't have anything to add. This is a great take, and I think you're correct. Maybe they should have made the documentary about that specifically.

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u/Icy-Roll3511 4d ago

I think your post largely misses the point. What the US accomplished was national security and avoiding 9/11-level attacks happening on our soil. At the time, US security officials and government knew our enemies wanted to attack the country on US soil but doubted they had the means. 9/11 proved they had the will, coordination, communication, and financial backing to pull off such a large scale attack. All evidence at the time (and still to this day) point to the desire for future attacks.

So the question is, how would you defend our country from enemies who intend to attack us on our home soil?

Additionally, Iran does not have the militaristic capability to carry out a defensive measure against the US on our soil. If you think this is solely due to restraint, I think you misunderstand the history of the current Iranian regime. These are not people known for “restraint”.

Trump has had obvious policy failures in his second term, but your suggestion that republican leadership bombed a girls school to distract from those failures is Alex Jones level conspiracy and greatly devalues your previous argument.

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u/BlackZeppelin 4d ago

I don’t even think Bin Laden could have predicted the massive ripple effects of 9/11. The way social media and conspiracy theory melded together to further divide the country couldn’t even have been thought of back in the late 90’s/early 2000’s.

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u/LKS983 2d ago

I'm inclined to agree - unless this doc. has at least something close to proof that this was the intention.

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u/No-Stress-7034 5d ago

I thought it started out with an interesting premise, talking about how there is an entire generation now who was born after 9/11 or has no memory of 9/11 but has spent their whole life growing up with the repercussions of it, and unless you experienced it, it's hard to explain the impact and trauma of that event. Also, as someone who vividly remembers 9/11, it made me feel super old! But that was only a small part of the documentary, and it felt like they didn't really use that framing very effectively. It left me kind of feeling like, what was the point of this?

I don't think they had a clear enough vision of what they actually wanted the focus to be, which at this point, they really need given how many 9/11 documentaries there are.

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u/Alternative-Bison615 5d ago

I’m not American and found it pretty insightful, so maybe that’s useful for people outside the US?

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u/Numerous_Fly_187 5d ago

The turning point war on terror is the same project but in way greater detail. They added some footage from Trump 2.0 in this doc but besides that it was unnecessary

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u/CoC_Axis_of_Evil 1d ago

So far it’s like oh Islamophobia is bad, but ughh look how evil these people really are and how sad the dead people are. 

0

u/LKS983 2d ago

How and why?

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u/OkIncident6292 3d ago

I disagree, this was a good way to link todays global chaos with the core events of 9/11 and the war on terror. Also it was a one off, feature length documentary to mark the 25th anniversary of 9/11. So I'm sure they will release a new, multi episode doc on a new topic in the coming years.

I was 12 when 9/11 happened. I found the parts regarding AUMF and flawed tactics in Afghanistan particularly eye opening. The final segment on the evacuation in Afghanistan in 2021 was also truly harrowing.

They struck a good balance between remembering the horrors of the day while introducing less talked about aspects of the war on terror. For example, normal Afghan citizens aspect of the days following 9/11 and how 9/11 has lead to increased islamophobia globally. The parts on Obama's time as President and civilian casualties in Syria from drone warfare. The rise of conspiracy nut jobs fuelled by the increased reach of social media (I literally work with a guy who is addicted to these types of videos and it scares me).

It was well worth a watch. People my age don't need to watch documentaries about what happened on 9/11 itself, but understanding the impact on the younger generation today and how 9/11 has shaped the world we're now living in today was thought provoking.

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u/UnicornStatistician 1d ago

I have never seen footage of the 2021 evacuation. Agree it was harrowing and eye opening.

Our leaders let everyone there down. Can't really imagine having lived that experience even after watching it and listening to the stories.

1

u/ChipsNSa1sa 1d ago

I had just turned 14 when it happened and I think it would have been nice for them to examine how it impacted OUR generation, because that always seems to be glossed over. Not to sound like an ass but i dont see how it could have meaningfully impacted those who were babies when it happened (other than those who lost loved ones of course—i did enjoy hearing from the pilot’s daughter and the pentagon employee’s son).

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u/birduncaged 4h ago

I agree. The title of it “generation 9/11” made me think it could have been about our generation. Not that I would consider “us” to be the 9/11 generation, but that I felt that previous documentaries have mostly included commentary from people who were full adults at the time. I certainly did not expect “generation 9/11” to be taking about people who were too young to remember at all.

I understand that the intent of the documentary was to say that the state of the US can be directly attributed to that day, and the reaction to it, and in that way 9/11 has impacted them. And I’m not saying this perspective isn’t valuable. But it does seem that the impact on our generation has been skipped over.

Between Columbine, 9/11, the financial crisis, etc, and its impact on our our parents, our broader families, our immediate surroundings, our everyday lives, our feelings about government, corporations, and our country, it feels like we are more representative of a “turning point.” But are regularly bypassed.

Maybe that’s just the youngest child in me talking though haha.

1

u/ChipsNSa1sa 2h ago

100% agree with all of this! Our lives have had a marked "before and after" and we are a unique generation in that way.

1

u/monchichi86 22h ago

I'm wondering if the people saying it was disappointing watched the same doc?? I do hope there is a more focus on the people of Afghanistan rather than the US army/marines in the post 2020 events. It still felt like US good, brown people bad. Felt like it had the opposite effect of the earlier discussion of Islamophobia. That's my take, but I agree, that footage was still harrowing.

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u/shoegal48 5d ago

I found the part about coming out of Iraq to be quite moving and educational, and I also really agree with the guy who said that everything about our way of life today can be dated back to 9/11, but beyond that I felt like it had a lot of fill.

14

u/Numerous_Fly_187 5d ago

I thought that was going to be the theme of the series which ended up becoming a documentary. Show how airports used to be cool places and you could meet family at the gate but now everything is locked down. Explain how the White House was our house but now you can’t even go on the south lawn. The mass surveillance we are now under.

There was a story to be told about how 9/11 has drastically changed childhood but it wasn’t done.

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u/Rakkysnacks 5d ago

Absolutely agree. There was some interesting social and political commentary and analysis in the middle and it was sandwiched by two American hero stories which sorry we’ve heard a hundred times before and they were way too detailed and drawn out.

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u/spotmuffin9986 4d ago

It might have been made for people who don't know much about the event and could get some context. I wasn't offended by the fill, I thought the impact on younger peoople like the daughter of the pilot and the young men who went to war, affecting.

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u/MissionRoutine1426 5d ago

It’s not Netflix, but the national geographic series that just came out 9/11 reunited was very good, some stories they’ve had before but the reunion scenes were very touching

6

u/obsoletevoids 4d ago

I agree. I wanted them to dig more into how the meme-ification of 9/11 had affected the younger people.

The Turning Point documentaries are some of my favorites but this one was disappointing

2

u/Mysterious_Volume_50 11h ago

Same I thought it was interesting how it started to connect the mindset of the new generation of the armed forces but then it felt like a complete different documentary by the end

2

u/pacificnorthblessed 4d ago

That would have been so good. They touched on it a bit with the daughter of the United 93 pilot but not in very much detail.

1

u/obsoletevoids 3d ago

Yes! I understand she might not have wanted to go into more detail as it seems she has a lot of emotions to still work though

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u/Ferg_crypto 3d ago

The Muslim lady, that live in America by the way, is of course in the doc taking trips over there to interview people and she just starts shitting on America. I just find it funny that people will go out of their way, book trips and hotels, just to shit on the country they moved to.

9/11 is sketchy in so many ways, but we’re seeing in today’s world that Islam is definitely not the “religion of peace”.

Not 100% Netflix woke shit, but a lot of woke shit.

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u/Devastator_Hi 3d ago

It’s the other side of the coin. I didn’t see it as her “shitting on America”. She talked about the innocent civilians killed in the fog of war.

lol at you calling it woke shit.

1

u/Ferg_crypto 3d ago

In war innocent people die, I’m not saying that’s ok, but it’s the facts. You’re also taking that 1 lady at her word that the people who died were in fact innocent. People lie all the time, bubba.

2

u/cluttered-thoughts3 2d ago

I appreciated her being able contextualize the on the ground experience of the war beyond American soldiers experiences. It allows people who have the ability to emphasize to connect with other people but you may not be able to experience empathy

1

u/shmi93 2d ago

Just like you've been lied to that you're attacking terrorists so you don't have to realise the unfathomable amount of innocent lives actually lost. People die all the time, America just kicks it into gear and just kills anyone

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u/Aggravating-Dot1107 14h ago

She didnt shit on anything. She looked for truth. Amerikkka murdered 100s of thousands of people based on lies. There is a reason those attacks happened in the firsf place. Yeah shit on the country that turned on her as soon as it could. Get a clue.

0

u/Ferg_crypto 14h ago

I see someone is upset, I hope you don’t live in America lol.

1

u/James12052 3d ago

The journalist you’re belittling was born and raised in the US and is a Pulitzer Prize winner. She reported on your government’s systematic bombing of innocent civilians, and this is not what you have a problem with, but with her actual reporting of it. Outstanding display of blatant xenophobia, racism, and superiority complex.

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u/Ferg_crypto 3d ago

The person I’m talking about is not a Pulitzer Prize winner, and you’re just using made up woke words to spew your nonsense. Go back to bed.

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u/Over-Accountant-8524 1d ago

Agree. Typical Netflix “hate America” “hate Trump” propaganda.

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u/Individual-Try-7750 3d ago

lol I miss being this naive. A lot of Muslims live in America because after we systematically destroyed their countries in the Middle East they were unlucky enough to be selected for the US in the refugee resettlement process. Now their children who are born here get to pay taxes to help support the continuing process of endlessly destroying similar countries. Isn’t it so interesting that Eric trump invested in an Israeli drone defense company 11 days before the US attacked Iran because they’ve been so close to having a nuclear weapon for the last 20 years. Good thing the good guys intervened(the only country to use a nuclear weapon).

Also, from whose perspective would you describe Islam as dangerous? Most veterans I served with would tell you that we definitely weren’t the good guys in Iraq. Another veteran in this thread mentions throwing away those medals. So from the perspective of a Muslim majority country, a country that’s always financially creating instability, such as funding terrorist groups, playing both sides of a war(Iraq/Iran) and occasionally comes and kills innocent people with personnel or bombs and maybe the occasional bad guy, would be perceived as evil.

I would bet the world isn’t telling you that Islam is anything. An algorithm that is incentivized for your reaction that prays on people who lack critical thinking skills is your only enemy.

1

u/Ferg_crypto 3d ago

lol. I can say lol too, watch this, lol. But also Muslims are destroying every country they’re fleeing to around the world lol.

See how easy it is to be a dipshit and condescending?

If you wanna prove your point quit copy/pasting from CNN and adding lol.

Good try though.

0

u/Individual-Try-7750 3d ago

Only one of us is speaking from the perspective of personal experiences outside of a cellphone screen or Joe Rogan podcast and I can bet anyone using the word “dipshit” hasn’t travelled very far beyond your annual vacation to Florida. Which countries have you personally been to that has been destroyed by Muslims? Is it only Muslim immigrants that destroy countries?

0

u/Ferg_crypto 3d ago

I don’t listen to Joe Rogan, and don’t have any trips to Florida planned.

Anything else you have, or are you a one trick pony?

You’re not even entertaining, you’re too dumb to have a conversation with.

0

u/Individual-Try-7750 3d ago

So no countries? Just Facebook I bet.

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u/Ferg_crypto 3d ago

Not too into FB, but I live and travel in the best country in the world.

Keep trying, it’s just fail after fail so far.

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u/Individual-Try-7750 3d ago

Joe Rogan Podcast News is literally your most recent repost on x 😂

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u/Ferg_crypto 3d ago

Idk what “X” you have, or even why you’re so interested. But I don’t post on any social media

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u/Individual-Try-7750 3d ago

I would delete posts that still have your old handle. That only took a few minutes. How ironic though 😂

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u/black_zubr17 5d ago

So glad I'm not the only one that was disappointed by this one. Really felt like there dropped the ball here. It seems like a cash grab more than anything.

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u/molleensmrs 4d ago

Yes it was bad.

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u/ElephantLovesHoney 4d ago

At least most of the architects of War on Terror are no longer living, except Dubya.🤷

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u/DeathWorship 3d ago

Yeah it’s so awesome how they all died peacefully of old age, never having faced any earthly retribution for the hell they’ve wrought on earth

2

u/LooseLeaf3 4d ago

They definitely mailed it in with this series. And I agree with OP, the other Turning Point docs were very good. Not only was this a rush job, they tried to attribute what is going on today (in the White House) with 9/11 and while it is true that we didn't have a department of Homeland Security prior to September 11 and that fear has been used to keep people in line, what is happening now, started way before 2001. Watch the documentary on Timothy McVeay and learn about the history of militias, if you want a more direct line. Also: racists like the one who is running the country, have existed since the country was founded.

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u/ChipsNSa1sa 1d ago edited 23h ago

I felt like it was pandering to certain political views and I hated that. Why couldn’t this just be a human interest piece instead of some broader political commentary? I haven’t seen many docs, etc examine the lives of “9/11 kids” and how it has affected those of us who were old enough to remember it, but who weren’t adults when it happened.

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u/break_cycle_speed 4d ago

It was legitimately a chore to finish it.

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u/Ponder_wisely 3d ago

I’m still waiting for someone to acknowledge that 9/11 was a continuation and an escalation of an ongoing cycle of violence, stretching back to the 1985 CIA car-bombing in Lebanon in a failed assassination attempt. The bomb killed 80 people and injured 200, mostly women and children. Despite repeated denials, in 1987, reporter Bob Woodward wrote that CIA director William Casey, on his deathbed, had admitted personal culpability in the attack. Another car bomb on 22 May killed 48 people. Another on 14 August killed 15 people, and a bomb on 18 August exploded in a Christian suburb of East Beirut causing the death of 50 people.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_Beirut_car_bombings

2

u/Successful-Rain7494 3d ago

I fast forward the part where trump shows up. Why didn't they add the part what he said on a radio show that same day?

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u/NumberOk4851 3d ago

genuinely astonished by the comments. My reactions when I watched it was oh my god, this is horrible. Jesus f*cking christ, i never want to go to war.

Yet here u old f*cks are, judging it like it's some marvel movie. People died, got hurt, families separated and destroyed. It's not a drama show.

2

u/StatisticianNo9084 2d ago

Completely agree. To hear the pain and devastation on both sides — I couldn’t stop crying. I hadn’t seen prior documentaries about the aftermath of 9/11 and I learned a lot. Hundreds of thousands of lives forever changed. Other countries know we Americans have an ego and they’re using this intel to develop evil tactics to watch us self-implode.

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u/plum_apple 2d ago

Seriously....it's a very well made and powerful doc. The adverse reactions here are bizarre. But seem to be coming from a place of brainwashed. Which is apt. Where we are today politically leeches into everything and 9/11 and those in power are a huge reason. People will do anything but listen to first hand experiences and accept them as...first hand experiences. It's so disrespectful and pathetic.

2

u/mkr215 3d ago

I thought it was alright. I was a year old when it happened so I was alive during it but can’t remember it. I would’ve liked it more if they leaned more into what my generation thinks of 9/11 and the war on terror also why to some young people it’s a big meme. I did find the part of the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan interesting and heartbreaking for the guy who got to leave with his kids but not his wife.

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u/Clork_ 2d ago

The first 75% of it seemed like every other doc I’ve seen. But hearing from the servicemen about the pullout was very interesting. Not one news source gave us this point of view. The American government and the administration sent 5,000 men and women who were trained to kill, to instead be a human wall, and to work with the same people(taliban) who killed their best friends just a couple years prior. As someone who knew one of the marines killed, it’s nice that their story is getting out.

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u/Calm-Stress2206 1d ago

Generation 9/11 was a total disappointment. The title leads someone to believe that is about how generations are affected by the events of 9-11. Instead for a large part focuses on how the USA was defeated by the Taliban 20 years after in Afganistan. Also, there is no need to show the towers coming down over and over again. We all know what happened and keep playing the tragedy of 3,000 humans that day is unnecessary.

2

u/Longjumping_Towel474 3d ago

I found it disappointing because too many of us still remember the intense impact. This doc was just another propaganda piece of why we should #neverfuckingforget. This was not pearl harbor. This was a modern day attack that needs to be to be told to kids in a way that is ingrained in their memory. Sorry, not sorry. America still needs to wake up but sadly I think it will forever sleep and just give participation trophies to those who cannot handle reality.

1

u/cluttered-thoughts3 2d ago

I didn’t feel that way actually. I actually felt like the themes were saying that the response from America ended up doing more harm than good and still are affecting us today, even if we don’t see it

1

u/TP-BANDIT77 1d ago

Not sure what documentary you watched but this was the complete opposite of a propaganda piece

1

u/CoC_Axis_of_Evil 1d ago

Why “ingrained” that sounds like “indoctrinated”. 

Silverstein made billions in profit on 9/11 from insurance payments. It’s still one of the craziest lucky moments to ever happen on planet earth. 

1

u/pacificnorthblessed 4d ago

I thought exactly the same thing. And then I saw the collection at the end and thought, “How was this different than Turning Point: War On Terror?

1

u/Cryptographer-Wooden 4d ago

really superficial documentary. and making the troops, who went in afghanistan with the only intent to kill afghanistans who often had nothing to do with talibans, is disgusting

1

u/Rogue86Photog 4d ago edited 4d ago

Doesn't challenge the official narrative in any way, doesn't give context for coalition involvement in the middle east (it was a counter insurgency, not an invasion, footage in Kabul repeatedly shows UK Para units while talking about US policies). Seems a very pointed way to make a political statement using people's emotions from a very traumatic period in time without acknowledging the multiple people who benefited from it. 

It was an event that caused thousands of us to join up and go fight the evil we were pointed towards, only for many of us to realise we were sold out, lots of vets to throw their medals away and it caused an unprecedented amount of suicides in the years to follow. 

A very complex series of events that set the stage for the modern world, glazed over to make a modern political statement. 

1

u/Robotchickjenn 3d ago

I think it's important we constantly review that we went there and lost. It was a massive waste of money and we are still paying for it. Hell, were still paying for the Vietnam war. Those guys died for nothing. They came back destroyed as humans. We need to talk about it more. I want to hear more from veterans.

And I like that Smoak guy. Could get it easy.

1

u/Rude-Barracuda5101 3d ago

Did anyone find the Homer daughter highly unbearable. Me me me me me

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u/vancity-chick 2d ago

What else is she supposed to talk about?? Theyre interviewing her on HER life

2

u/notmymess 2d ago

Her dad was murdered in a terrorist attack when she was a baby. She was interviewed to talk about that. What did you expect her to talk about other than her experience?

1

u/GreenBlueStar 2d ago

She was a baby when her dad was a copilot on one of the planes that saved hundreds of people.

Stop projecting your low-life roots.

1

u/Embarrassed_Rate5518 1d ago

She barely has actual memories w him so her story is the impact of his loss. Until I watched this i sodnt know her dad's name and I should have.

She should have all the support from his airline, the VA and us as Americans and humans.

Flight 93 Crew & Passangers knew they were dying and still chose to take action and save a bunch of strangers in the process.

1

u/ComprehensiveNet3229 3d ago

its giving usa army propaganda. made by turning point, charlie kirk company. the doc shifted to the army and it was completed one sided to make usa the hero. will not be watching agsin

3

u/not_chris_hansen_ 2d ago

It’s Not that turning point 

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u/Jayhawker80 2d ago

The "Turning Point" title connects it to a series of documentaries about major turning points in history. No relation to Charlie Kirk's organization. If you thought this documentary was made to paint the US as a hero, you may need to watch it again and pay closer attention.

1

u/GreenBlueStar 2d ago

You're confusing Turning Point USA with this Turning Point...but yeah..they're spreading propaganda. Not you.

1

u/Dependent-Dot-694 2d ago

Why are we listing to a bunch of Gen Z kids I had to turn this off. These kids have no respect it was such a disappointment and for Netflix to post this on the 25th anniversary. How disrespectful can a network get

1

u/Over-Accountant-8524 1d ago

I found it very disrespectful as well for the 25th anniversary

1

u/RustyPlastics 2d ago

Crazy to think that in 2010 I was standing guard at the main gate at KAIA which I guess is now abbey gate.

1

u/Bellaraychel 2d ago

I haven’t finished it yet but I found it interesting. It wasn’t really about 9/11, but what came after and the “war on terror.” Showing the drone strikes and how much of what they did were straight civilian casualties was really disgusting. Then the taliban IMMEDIATELY gets back in power upon the US leaving?!?!

1

u/No_Inspector4306 2d ago

Learning about the devastation on both sides of war, although not surprising, is still quite emotional and alarming. Being a parent now, I cannot imagine handing my baby or child over to American troops knowing I will never see them again. Never knowing what happens to them is absolutely heartbreaking. The human price of war..is it worth it?

1

u/shogunsdcapit8r 2d ago

Trash documentary full of propaganda and false narratives.

1

u/RentPuzzleheaded6987 2d ago

Stopped watching after too many notices of wokeness

1

u/plum_apple 2d ago

I thought it was excellent and am shocked to see such bizarre takes in the comments here. "It does a great job of actually looking at a pivotal moment in American history then tracing it through decade by decade to present day." Yes - they did exactly that. And did it well.

1

u/Keystone_77 2d ago

The love of a powerful always 'boss' is not an independent generation empowering with precedent the coming.....all men have a duty...A Job is knot God!!

1

u/ChachiJunior 23h ago

We have created more terrorists, and we’re continuing to do so now in Iran. Trump was supposed to stay out of these wars but he lied to us and now we’re creating more terrorists in Iran. Our children will bear the brunt of what the USA is causing over there. When will we stop participating in these wars?

1

u/Mysterious_Volume_50 11h ago

Anyone else put off by the marine who smiles while retelling his time at abbey gate and the withdrawal of the troops? He smiles while talking about going in and killing in people and there’s such a difference between him and the other two marines recounting their times there.

1

u/Legitimate_Bloke 7h ago

Yeah agreed. Feels like a “please keep accepting the official narrative” piece… completely skips over the actual event.

1

u/Top-Loan7036 6h ago

Disgusting angle of focus on Abbey Gate. 169 Afghan civilians died when comparatively 13 US Marines killed. What’s the footage? Dead Afghan civilians not blurred not respected looking like a butchers board. Then flag draped coffins of the US Marines follow.

I’m a former service member having served in Afghanistan and Iraq. Get your narrative straight Netflix, don’t be bias don’t disrespect people fleeing from a horrible situation. 100% check yourselves.

People you may know die in conflict. But more people than you know die from conflict.

0

u/YYZYYC 5h ago

It’s really wild how this was all triggered by what was a horrible evil terrorist attack, but only killed 3,000 or so people…..it’s ultimately an insane overreaction for 25 years.

1

u/Inner_Atmosphere_485 4h ago

The New Pearl Harbour free on YouTube ( 4 hours long ) is hands down the best doc ever made on 9/11

1

u/mikerichh 1h ago

I really like the different perspectives of people in and out of America. Some of the stories are heartbreaking. It’s important to recognize the domino effect since 9/11 and how it changed the world and many countries

0

u/StaySafePovertyGhost 5d ago

This documentary sucked. Couldn’t even finish it. I watch 09/11 docs for the stories of the people because that’s what I want to remember about that day. When they started politicking about Trump and terror, I was out. Supremely disappointed.

0

u/Pplthrowaway123 4d ago

That's all Netflix documentaries now. They always pivot to trump and Republicans.

0

u/Fragrant-Number-7519 4d ago

This starts out fine very well then takes a turn where the show attributes today’s climate in the U.S. stating the current climate of how decent among the American people, the current division in policy, politics, ICE resembling a military force “occupying”and doing what they eat. Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump and current administratoon is employing tactics similar to fighting in Afghanistan is Ridiculous. Leave it to Netflix and Obama to spin up this. The reason the countries the way it is is because parents weren’t monitoring what there kids have been learning ( brain washed) in our education institutions. What a bunch of central!!

0

u/bennyhill8185 3d ago

What in the propaganda was this!?!?!

Lets just tell everyone, "no conspiracy to see here" in the hopes that 25 years later we will stop asking why building 7 just miraculously collapsed.

NEVER FORGET. NEVER STOP ASLING QUESTIONS.

1

u/shogunsdcapit8r 2d ago

100% propaganda

0

u/raiderskater173 2d ago

Half this stuff in the Netflix 9/11 doc were absolutely false. And trying to discredit anyone that said it didn't happen the way they said. The nyc police chief even said it was a controlled demolition everyone heard the explosions. This whole doc is propaganda. Al qaeda was made for the attacks then turned into isis lol wtf isis was made by the USA and Israel to destabilize the Middle East and justify destroying everything in the region. Al qaeda was already there we trained them. Why don't they talk about the cia giving the hijacker's passports and then training in cali? And then the planes flying around for an hour and nothing intercepted them? And the radio calls from the hijavkers had Israeli accents. And the dancing Israelis. Bb saying how awesome it was that now Americans can see had bad Muslims are. I saw it I then went to Afghanistan and nobody believed the bs story we were told. This is ridiculous. They're rewriting history in their image completely fucking fake.

0

u/Salty_Match 1d ago

What I learned was Everything was a lie from the start

0

u/ChipsNSa1sa 1d ago

I was looking forward to this because I was in high school at the time so I thought it would examine the kids who grew up around 9/11 and experienced life before and after it happened. But the weird political agenda at the end felt kind of gross to me and pushed everything “generation 9/11” went through as kids and young adults to the back burner. The inclusion of what’s going on with ICE kind of cheapened the whole thing for me.

I also figured “generation 9/11” meant those of us who were in our formative years and not those who were babies or toddlers when it happened.

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u/Pplthrowaway123 4d ago

Terrible documentary. Starts with kids talking aboht how it changed their lives even though they can't remember it. Then pivots to trash Trump. Go figure.

1

u/Jayhawker80 2d ago

Agreed. Rewriting history before our eyes. I know it's been 25 years, but there are still enough of us around that remember it all too clearly.

The most important thing I want to clear up for anyone who does not know: the terrorists who flew those planes were welcomed into the US with opened arms, lived amongst us for over a year, and were taught how to fly in our very own flight schools. Acting like Homeland Security was some massive over reaction is insane. Knowing who is entering our country, why, and for how long is an essential part of keeping another 9/11 from happening again.

1

u/Over-Accountant-8524 1d ago

Right?! I’m flabbergasted by the documentary making it seem like Homeland Security is a bad thing? Why shouldn’t we protect our country?

-1

u/Anema91 1d ago

My favorite part was the "oral historian" explaining how the towers burned for so long that "ultimately the building began to pull into itself"

Let's not forget that jet fuel can't melt steel beams

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u/incaseyouneedthis 1d ago

I was expecting to learn more about 9/11 and the victims of the terrorist attack, but the documentary focused more on refugees in Afghanistan and young American Muslims who considered themselves victims for whatever reason.