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Home Front: Culture Wars
Iconic Ground Zero photo was nearly excluded from museum for being too 'rah-rah' American
2013-07-28
Dr. Steve, what is the International Classification of Diseases code for liberalism?.
The ICD-9 code is 294.1: Dementia in conditions classified elsewhere...
This iconic picture of firefighters raising the stars and stripes in the rubble of Ground Zero was nearly excluded from the 9/11 Memorial Museum -- because it was "rah-rah" American, a new book says.

Michael Shulan, the museum's creative director, was among staffers who considered the Tom Franklin photograph too kitschy and "rah-rah America," according to "Battle for Ground Zero" (St. Martin's Press) by Elizabeth Greenspan, out next month.
Mr. Shulan probably objects to the Iwo Jima flag raising picture for the same reason. How about George Washington crossing the Delaware? Someone should tell this clown that if we want any crap out of him we'll squeeze his head.
"I really believe that the way America will look best, the way we can really do best, is to not be Americans so vigilantly and so vehemently," Shulan said.

Shulan had worked on a popular post-9/11 photography exhibit called "Here is New York" in Soho when he was hired by Alice Greenwald, director of the museum, for his "unique approach."

Eventually, chief curator Jan Ramirez proposed a compromise, Greenspan writes. The Franklin shot was minimized in favor of three different photos via three different angles of the flag-raising scene.

"Several images undercut the myth of 'one iconic moment,' Ramirez said, and suggest instead an event from multiple points of view, like the attacks more broadly," the book says.

"Shulan didn't like three photographs more than he liked one, but he went along with it."
Posted by:GolfBravoUSMC

#2  Fuck you Shulan. Like it or not, it is a part of the history and story of 9-11.

So put it in there, stop bitching about it or get your nose rearranged round the side of your head.
Posted by: DarthVader   2013-07-28 19:02  

#1  Easy to see where the "creative" director is coming from as you read the memorial website. Special attention to the FAQ's.
Posted by: Besoeker   2013-07-28 15:27  

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