Pop Culture Influences of 9/11

Many things changed in our world and in our daily lives 15 years ago.

The events of September 11, 2001, had a far reaching impact on the national psyche in the days following those tragic events.

As is the case with monumental moments in our lives, the impact influences popular culture -- music, movies, television... among other art forms -- for years thereafter, leaving an indelible fingerprint.

We've seen the influence that major events like Pearl Harbor, the JFK assassination, and the Vietnam War have had on the world entertainment.

The emotional impact permeates the world around us.

9/11 stands as one of the keystone moments in the lives Generation Xers. Much in the way our parents remember where they were when President Kennedy was assassinated, our generation remembers where they were when the Towers came down.

The Music
In the days, months and years following 9/11, a number of musicians sang about the tragic and horrific events of that day -- taking different approaches with their musical stylings.

In my mind, Bruce Springsteen's album "The Rising" stands as the defining pop album chronicling that moment in our nation's history. The album was released in 2002 for the anniversary of 9/11, and the songs serve as an elegy to the anguish and devastation of those events.

"Into The Fire" features lyrics that are at once haunting, and capture the emotions of that day:

The sky was falling and 

streaked with blood 

I heard you calling me, 

then you disappeared 

into dust 

Up the stairs, into the fire 

Up the stairs, into the fire 

That same year, country artist Toby Keith released a decidedly different take on the state of affairs in our nation with his song "Courtesy of The Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)" on the album "Unleashed." 

Unlike Springsteen's "The Rising," the "Unleashed" album itself wasn't a tribute to the events of 9/11. In most respects, it was pretty typical of country/pop albums of that era.

But the song "Courtesy of The Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)" swirled with all sorts of hard-nosed, macho, patriotic fervor, with Keith acting as cheerleader of sorts as he belted out:

Hey Uncle Sam put your name 

At the top of his list 

And the Statue of Liberty 

Started shaking her fist 

And the eagle will fly 

And there's gonna be hell 

When you hear Mother Freedom 

Start ringin' her bell 

And it'll feel like the whole wide world is rainin' down on you 

Brought to you courtesy 

Of the Red, White and Blue

Whether or not one would consider either song unofficial themes for that time in history is subject to debate.

Movies & TV

Much in the way that Springsteen and Keith represent the differing emotional tones and attitudes surrounding the events of 9/11, so too have movies and television shows in our post-9/11 world. 

There were serious tomes produced like Paul Greengrass's "United 93" and Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center."

There have also been numerous films focused on the subsequent military actions in the Middle East. Movies like "American Sniper," "The Hurt Locker," "Zero Dark Thirty," and "Lone Survivor."

In my mind, the one fictional character to step to the forefront during the years following 9/11 was Kiefer Sutherland's Jack Bauer on the show "24." 

Much like Sylvester Stallone's John Rambo in the 1980s, Jack Bauer was a character who epitomized the geo-political world of the 2000s.

Both film icons acted as vessels of catharsis in our society -- providing relief from strong emotions toward the world around each during his respective place in history (even if their exploits seemed far-fetched and over-the-top at times).

The creators of "24" put Jack Bauer through a myriad of struggles and impossible situations during a lone day, and he would always come through.

Jack Bauer became the prototype for basically every modern counter-espionage character on the small and big screen. He was a contrast to Tom Clancy's bookish hero Jack Ryan... more of a 21st century mix of Ryan and the aforementioned John Rambo.

I remember an episode of the Tina Fey comedy "30 Rock" where Jack Donaghy tells Liz Lemon that he is going to a party thrown by John McCain and Jack Bauer, and Lemon suggests Bauer isn't a real person:

Like Stallone in the 1980s, and John Wayne during World War II, Sutherland's character epitomized this sort of rough-and-ready ideal that viewers hoped was out there, fighting for them in the early 2000s.

Life and Art 
Oscar Wilde once wrote: "Life imitates art far more than art imitates life."

People have drawn their own conclusions about that statement over the years, but it seems poignantly apropos of seminal life events as time progresses.

Future generations will remember 9/11 and its immediate aftermath based on an amalgamation of historic recollections and footage -- as well as the pop culture influences of the day.

Those of us who weren't around in the 1960s have a vague snapshot of the decade culled from history books, archival footage, music, movies, tv shows, books, and fashion.

I have nieces and nephews who weren't alive when 9/11 happened, and it seems hard to believe sometimes.

But the world keeps moving forward. Time has a way of healing wounds.

As Springsteen crooned on "The Rising" album, in the song "Waitin' on a Sunny Day":

Hard times, baby well 

they come to us all 

Sure as the tickin' of 

the clock on the wall 

Sure as the turnin' 

of the night into day... 

I'm waitin', waitin' 

on a sunny day 

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