Spike Lee's New Documentary Gives a Notorious 9/11 Conspiracy Theorist His Biggest Platform Ever

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/08/spike-lee-hbo-documentary-richard-gage.html


On Monday, the New York Times reported that Spike Lee devotes a significant amount of time in his new four-part HBO documentary series, NYC Epicenters 9/11–2021½, to the group Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth, which promotes the conspiracy theory that the Twin Towers were brought down by a controlled demolition as part of an inside job.

About a decade ago, I interviewed Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth founder Richard Gage multiple times and attended one of his events for articles in Slate and Architect Magazine. Gage is responsible for peddling some of the most pernicious and long-running lies about the 9/11 attacks, which is why I was surprised that Lee, HBO, and WarnerMedia might be lending his group any amount of time.

I had to see for myself to what extent Lee’s documentary actually promoted Gage’s fantasies, so I checked out a screener for Episode 4, which is due to be released around the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. What I found was surreal and demoralizing.

Lee devotes 30 minutes near the very end of his series to relitigating arguments that have been debunked a thousand times. Specifically, he presents about a dozen conspiracy theorists and members of Gage’s group, including Gage himself, in a back-and-forth with three credible scientists who investigated the 9/11 attacks in a teach the controversy–style format that presents the truth behind 9/11 as an open debate between two equally valid sides. In terms of conveying facts, this is a bit like presenting COVID-19 vaccine skeptics in a debate alongside Anthony Fauci, or Holocaust deniers alongside the Simon Wiesenthal Center, or a clique of climate change skeptics alongside the authors of the United Nations IPCC report.

*snip*

[hookaleft]

1. Something is funny about 9/11

and I don't mean ha ha funny.

[Scrivener7]

20. There was NOTHING funny about 9/11. Lots of us were there. People need to cut this shit out.

[Dorian Gray]

23. It was hysterical

[Hugh_Lebowski]

2. Well, that sucks ...

If I was in a position to investigate outstanding questions about 9/11, the first place I'd start is 'how did Hani Hanjour acquire the piloting skills needed to crash a jumbo jet straight into the side of the Pentagon'.

Because that was a FAR, FAR more complex piloting challenge vs. running into the side of a very tall building. Note that unlike the Tower's hits, it was not done on the first pass, his plane actually circled the area, and had to descend many 1000's of feet to make the strike at ground level with obstacles all around. WAY more challenging.

I'd want to look into the ties between some of these guys, and possible high-level training by the Saudi's, IOW.

[hack89]

5. That makes no sense

Do you realize how large an area the Pentagon covers? It would be damn near impossible to miss. The fallacy in your argument is the assumption he hit exactly where he was aiming when it is more likely that he was trying to hit anywhere on the building that he could.

Hitting the ground is not a particularly difficult act of flying especially when your target is 29 acres.

[milestogo]

13. But its really hard to fly a plane 7ft off the ground.

[hack89]

15. You have to pass 7 to get to zero

He was in a shallow dive until impact. He was not flying steady at 7 feet.

[Ohio Joe]

3. Sheesh... Really disappointing...

I just assumed that scam ran out of steam long ago but... I guess not. They are still bringing in suckers, what a shame. I'll avoid the whole series rather then give an ounce of credence to that shit.

[Treefrog]

4. Love the way he wears his mask!

[madville]

19. It's more of a fashion statement at that point right n/t

[misanthrope]

8. So the administration that couldn't do anything else right

pulled off one of the most complex conspiracies in history? Uh huh.

[elevator]

10. LOL. They did a heck of a job convincing the press and most Americans

we needed to invade Iraq. Were you one of them?

The 911 commission was a whitewash, just like the Warren Commission. Neither gave the true answers about what happened....whatever they are.

[LanternWaste]

12. Aliens?

"whatever they are...."

Aliens?

[dflprincess]

25. My money would be on the Saudis

but if you want to think "aliens", go ahead.

[Mme. Defarge]

7. Tower 7?

[hack89]

17. A shit ton of burning debris fell on it

According to FDNY there was a 20 story gouge in one side, several uncontrolled fires and a bulge in one side.

[ProfessorGAC]

22. The Air Was Full Of Dust

And smoke.
With high def news cameras everywhere, where is the supersonic shockwave?
It would be as visible as a black coat laying on snow.
But, there isn't one.

[beaglelover]

9. I can't believe we have 9/11 truthers on this board. SMDH.

[Archae]

16. Doesn't really surprise me that much.

Conspiracy theorists can be found in any group.

Liberals, conservatives, you name it.

20 years ago, if anyone told me about the 9-11 events, I'd say that was a scenario straight out of fantasyland.

Yet it happened, no "missiles with holograms," no "Mossad set them up," no "controlled explosions demolishing the WTC," no "nano-thermite," just 4 hijacked airplanes on suicide missions.

[elevator]

26. And you know this how. Because the 911 commission said so. LOL.

And successful conspiracies can be found throughout history. Most of what happens is a result of a conspiracy. Look up the definition amigo. Just because there are many whacko theories out there does not mean many are not valid.

[Silent3]

35. There are conspiracies with a lowercase "c", and then there are Grand Conspiracies

People prone to conspiratorial thinking aren't merely dwelling on lowercase-c conspiracies, simple matters of two or more people conspiring to commit a crime, they're fantasizing about ridiculously complex conspiracies that require crazy elements like unknown advanced technologies, thousands of people keeping devastating secrets without any leaks, complex schemes attributed to powerful people who, if they were that powerful, could have accomplished their goals by much simpler means, etc.

As for "Most of what happens is a result of a conspiracy", that's a claim that sounds pretty bizarre, but it's also awfully vague. What counts as a "happening", so that we can enumerate all "happenings", and then start tallying up which happenings are which?

[hack89]

18. That used to be a very active forum here

Died off when Bush left office.

[Dorian Gray]

24. Yeah

I'm stunned.

[Behind the Aegis]

28. Yup. Not surprising.

I have read a bunch on the psychology of conspiratorial thinking and it is interesting, but it shows we as a species have a knock for seeing things where they aren't, especially when it is something monumental. Frankly, I am more upset by Holocaust minimizers on the left, because that is just one step away from denial.

[Treefrog]

33. Do we still have a forum for them?

Can’t be arsed to look, but I thought there used to be one.

[chowder66]

14. Well this is disappointing. Just what we need, another fucking conspiracy push. nt

[Tommy Carcetti]

21. Oliver Stone gives platforms to dictators, Spike Lee gives platforms to conspiracy kooks...

…Are there any more high profile film directors from my youth planning to disappoint me?

[Archae]

27. Oliver Stone also gave a platform to conspiracy kooks.

With his bullshit movie "JFK."

Oh, he got two facts correct in "JFK."

John F. Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas.

Clay Shaw was put on trial by Jim Garrison.

But the rest of that movie is total bullshit.

[Tommy Carcetti]

32. It was for all intents and purposes total fiction.

But at least it was entertaining.

Watching Oliver Stone lick Putin’s boots for eight hours on the other hand is definitely not entertaining.

[Buckeyeblue]

29. What should be investigated is how/why W's administration fell asleep at the stick

Conspiracy theories require believers to accept a serious of coordinated, almost fantastical, events as facts. These people willingly do so because it gives them an excuse for their own shortcomings and failures. That excuse is this: there are forces beyond my control working against me.

W's problem was incompetence. That's what should be investigated. How could all of our intelligence missed this? Or maybe their priorities were elsewhere. W's group, fresh off an illegitimate victory, came into govern with a lot of moxy. But everything the touched went to shit.

The Trump nightmare has given them cover. But they are still the worst, in my opinion.

[oasis]

30. "Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US". Bush ignored 8/6 PDB.

Meanwhile, National Security Adviser, Condi Rice was trying to figure out who Osama Bin Ladin was.

[Champp]

31. "no one could possibly have imagined..." - Condi (R)

Republican Rice lied to Congress and the American people...even after she and her Republican cronies ignored the many warnings about the upcoming attack on America.

[Buckeyeblue]

34. So we give incompetence a pass...but want justice for a conspiracy?

[Hotler]

36. The NEOCON's wrote in 1998-99 about needing a Pearl Harbor type of event to get

the American people behind their effort to take military control of Mideast. And then 9/11.

[oasis]

37. Project for the New American Century (PNAC). Bill Kristol, Dick Cheney

John Bolton,Jeb Bush, Bill Bennett, Frank Gaffney and Robert Kagan to name a few.

[BannonsLiver]

38. The steel thing was debunked by popular mechanics years ago.

Yes steel melts at a higher temperature than jet fuel burns. But what these people leave out is that jet fuel does burn at a temperature high enough to weaken steel even if it can’t melt it. That weakening was enough to cause the collapses. It didn’t need to melt for that to happen.

[smirkymonkey]

39. I honestly don't know what happened.

I am not buying most of the conspiracy theories, however I can't really swallow the "official story" hook, line and sinker either.

It just kind of surprises me that there are so many people who are completely on one side or the other. Nobody seems comfortable with a grey area where parts of the official story were mainly true, but then there were some things that were pretty questionable that haven't been adequately explained either.

I really don't want to get into it again, but it just seems strange to me that there are very few people who have any doubt that the side they have chosen may not explain everything sufficiently.

Oh, just an FYI, I was there in NYC that day watching it happen from Greenwich Village, near St. Vincent's Hospital. Not that it gives me any special knowledge, just another point of reference.