"A Mighty Heart" Meets Hecules

I had a strange experience on Saturday. I went to Times Square to see the movie “A Mighty Heart”. I got to the “Crossroads of the World” in time to see a police surge, an event in operation Hercules, where NYPD sends scores if not hundreds of police cars to one area, just to shake things up. I admit I was pretty shaken by the site of all these police cars parked on the sidewalk at 90 degrees to the street, all lights flashing. I hope potential terrorists had the same reaction that I did.

It made sense of NYPD to do this in the aftermath of the attempted Piccadilly bombings. MSNBC reports on NYPD’s assessment.

I believe that a great sense of my unease lies in the fact that should something happen I would be totally defenseless. I was but two blocks from the World Trade center on September 11th, and I remember my reactions: shock, rage, and yes, feeling defenseless. There was absolutely noting I could do in the immediate aftermath of that horrible event. I wished there was something that I could do to get back at those bastards. Until this day, I have this fantasy: Osama bin Laden has been captured, tried and convicted. I win a national lottery that gives an ordinary citizen the right to execute bin laden in whichever way he or she feels appropriate. I wonder whether I would go for something slow and painful or quick.

I suppose it is a way to make up for my sense of vulnerability. I ride the subways every day. I go through Grand Central Terminal everyday. I have no doubt that I am a target.


BONUS MOVIE REVIEW

I thought “A Mighty Heart” was a vehicle to show that Angelina Jolie was a “serious” actress. The center of the movie was Jolie, as reporter Daniel Pearl’s wife, Mariane, who waits while Pakistani police try to find her husband before terrorists murder him. While Jolie performed admirably, I thought the movie itself lacked focus and led the viewer to the forced conclusion that we are all evil, but others might be just a little more evil.
I give “A Mighty Heart” 3.5 stars out of four.