The whole world is talking about A Tribute to Heroes this morning. Apparently it was shown simultaneously on forty American TV stations – well it was also live on BBC1 and ITV1 in the UK, starting at 2am and finishing at 4am. I decided to watch it, and I can’t say that I wasn’t moved by it. But in the back of mind the whole time I was thinking that the people who supported the attacks on America could have watched the show and – almost to a song – found strength in them for their cause. And I was thinking that the same people could have heard the speeches of some of the celebrities, changed the name of the institution that they were fighting for, and they’d have believed it just as forcefully as America does. I watched Tom Petty, one of my favourite musicians in my youth, singing “Won’t Back Down” with steely eyes and tightly drawn lips. And I imagined some shadowy figure facing him singing exactly the same thing. I think that scared me more than anything else.
Categories