Home  •  About  •  Contact  •  Twitter  •  Google+  •  Facebook  •  Tumblr  •  Youtube  •  RSS Feed
The Forgotten

The Forgotten

By Patrick Samuel • September 14th, 2013
Static Mass Rating: 4/5
THE FORGOTTEN (MOVIE)
Columbia Pictures

Original release: September 24th, 2004
Running time: 91 minutes

Director: Joseph Ruben
Writer: Gerald Di Pego

Cast: Julianne Moore, Dominic West, Gary Sinise, Anthony Edwards, Lee Tergesen, Alfre Woodard, Linus Roache, Jessica Hecht

The Forgotten

In the 9/11 Truth community there exists many theories about what happened on that day. While the official report and explanation about the events leading up to the attack, and slow response to it by intelligence agencies and defense departments, don’t offer much in the way of a detailed and clear analysis about how so many things could’ve gone so wrong on such a morning, the task has fallen to others to make sense out of a labyrinth of scenarios.

One of those possible scenarios is that what many saw crashing into the Twin Towers, and later on what was reported to have crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania and into the Pentagon building weren’t actually American Airlines Flight 11, United Airlines Flight 175, United Airlines Flight 93 and American Airlines Flight 77 but instead remote controlled drones that were modified to look like commercial airliners. This leaves us with more questions than answers though, the most pressing of which is this; what happened to the 246 passengers who were on board those four planes?

The Forgotten, a film from 2004 has, as its title suggests, been largely forgotten, but it offers us one possible explanation about those missing passengers, albeit in an indirect sort of way. Its story centers on grieving mother Telly Paretta (Julianne Moore) whose son, Sam (Christopher Kovaleski), died fourteen months ago in a plane crash. Her husband Jim (Anthony Edwards) informs her that Sam never existed and that she’s becoming delusional and her psychiatrist Dr. Munce (Gary Sinise) tells her that Sam was merely a figment of her imagination. Even her close friend Eliot (Jessica Hecht) doesn’t believe in Sam’s existence.

The Forgotten

When Telly runs into Ash (Dominic West), a man she believes is the father of a girl who was friends with Sam and died in the same crash, she tries to convince him that not only is she telling the truth about her son, but that he really did have a daughter and something (or someone) is making them forget the people in their lives. Eventually Ash does remember his daughter when Telly peels back the wallpaper in a room in his apartment to reveal the girl’s drawings. Now they both know Telly isn’t crazy but they’re being hunted by National Security agents and an encounter with one of them reveals that they’re helping “them” to protect humankind, just before the agent is taken by “them”.

When Telly’s taken to disused hangar at the airport, she’s introduced to an agent of “them”, played by Linus Roache. He tells her that she was part of an experiment to see if the bond between a mother and a child could ever be broken. In her case, she clung to her memories of her son despite everyone else being able to forget he ever existed. In a way it mirrors what many 9/11 families have experienced with those who try to get them to let go and move on without ever getting the closure they really need; knowing what really happened to their loved ones.

As The Forgotten goes on to tell a story of a mother whose love for her son is so strong that she can never forget him, it also sheds some light on one of the mysteries surrounding 9/11 and what might’ve happened to the passengers if their planes were swapped by drones, and also The Forgottenhow they might’ve been able to make calls from their mobile phones when this was actually impossible. The passengers on board the flight in the film didn’t die when their plane supposedly crashed. They were transported to another place and kept there as part of an experiment. This scenario is one that can be used when trying to think about what might’ve happened on September 11th, 2001, especially when we remember reports like this one from Liz Foreman at 9News from 11:43 that same day:

“A Boeing 767 out of Boston made an emergency landing Tuesday at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport due to concerns that it may have a bomb aboard, said Mayor Michael R. White. White said the plane had been moved to a secure area of the airport, and was evacuated. United identified the plane as Flight 93. ” ¹

The report is one of many that quickly disappeared in the aftermath of the events that played out that day, but it’s an important one that leads us to ask questions that those in the know are keeping quiet about. However, due to the chaos that morning, the plane could’ve easily been misidentified and it might’ve been Delta 1989 which made an emergency landing due to a suspected bomb on board. Another report that day claims that Flight 93 de-boarded at NASA Glenn Research Center and its passengers were taken away in an unmarked shuttle. Where did that shuttle go and where are those passengers today? Stranger still, United Airlines Flight 175 and United Airlines Flight 93 remained on the FAA ‘active’ list for four years after 9/11 and were only deregistered after researchers repeatedly questioned FAA officials about it. Meanwhile, American Airline flights, Flight 11 and 77, both were deregistered and classified as ‘destroyed’ only months after 9/11 on Jan. 14th, 2002. It’s another part of the 9/11 mystery that continues to fuel the fire, so to speak.

With the ease with which so many have been able to move past 9/11 without ever questioning what happened or how it has affected our lives right now, I’ve often wondered if there’s something else at work here, causing us to forget or to simply accept it as one “one of those things that happen in life”. There’s also the odd way in which The Forgotten was altered a few years after its release, changing the plot by removing all mention of the victims being involved in a plane crash. Instead, they were in a bus crash. Newspaper articles were edited to reflect this and the company, “Quest Airline”, is shortened to “Quest”. For those of us who saw the film during its theatrical release, it’s hard not to “forget” the original plot details, or is it? Like Telly, I can’t forget, either these details or 9/11. There’s something that drives me to keep searching for answers because there’s more missing than 3000 souls. A part of us is gone as well, forgotten, and we have to remember what it was like before.

The Forgotten

Patrick Samuel

Patrick Samuel

The founder of Static Mass Emporium and one of its Editors in Chief is an emerging artist with a philosophy degree, working primarily with pastels and graphite pencils, but he also enjoys experimenting with water colours, acrylics, glass and oil paints.

Being on the autistic spectrum with Asperger’s Syndrome, he is stimulated by bold, contrasting colours, intricate details, multiple textures, and varying shades of light and dark. Patrick's work extends to sound and video, and when not drawing or painting, he can be found working on projects he shares online with his followers.

Patrick returned to drawing and painting after a prolonged break in December 2016 as part of his daily art therapy, and is now making the transition to being a full-time artist. As a spokesperson for autism awareness, he also gives talks and presentations on the benefits of creative therapy.

Static Mass is where he lives his passion for film and writing about it. A fan of film classics, documentaries and science fiction, Patrick prefers films with an impeccable way of storytelling that reflect on the human condition.

Patrick Samuel ¦ Asperger Artist

© 2022 STATIC MASS EMPORIUM . All Rights Reserved. Powered by METATEMPUS | creative.timeless.personal.   |   DISCLAIMER, TERMS & CONDITIONS

HOME | ABOUT | CONTACT | TWITTER | GOOGLE+ | FACEBOOK | TUMBLR | YOUTUBE | RSS FEED

CINEMA REVIEWS | BLU-RAY & DVD | THE EMPORIUM | DOCUMENTARIES | WORLD CINEMA | CULT MOVIES | INDIAN CINEMA | EARLY CINEMA

MOVIE CLASSICS | DECONSTRUCTING CINEMA | SOUNDTRACKS | INTERVIEWS | THE DIRECTOR’S CHAIR | JAPANESE CINEMA