With the tenth anniversary of 9/11 right around the corner I thought it would be a good opportunity to look back on Remember Me and what critics failed to notice or chose to ignore.
When Remember Me was released, critics were up in arms over the ending of the film, which ends with the main character, Tyler Hawkins (Robert Pattinson), dying in the Twin Towers. Critics ranted that it was a cheap way to end the movie and simply means to an end. It hit a nerve and caused a strong emotional reaction. They believed that 9/11 was used simply to end the movie. What they failed to realize was that the entire story was based on September 11th. That the ending was the reason for the entire film and that the premise of the movie was built around the ending and not the other way around. Maybe it was too soon, maybe the critics weren’t ready to be hit in the face with a surprise 9/11 ending.
Remember Me was about September 11th, it always had been. Fetters has long said that the main reason he wrote the script to Remember Me was because of the way 9/11 impacted him. The entire point of the movie was to put a name and a face on the people who died during those awful last moments of the Twin Towers. Instead of making them a statistic, Will Fetters humanized them and gave them a voice .
What happened in the Twin Towers that day was horrific and had a direct impact on many. However many others watched the scenes unravelling before them, from afar, in total shock and abject horror. These people saw the events unfold, but had no connection to people in the World Trade Center or the Tower themselves. They saw it as a horrible tragedy, as a whole, a specific incident that affected many lives. They understood the scope of the event and catastrophe, however how could they truly understand how it was for those who lived it? Those who lost someone? This is where Remember Me comes in. Remember Me gave those people a name. When you give a character a voice and make him real to viewers, only then can they truly understand the impact it had on those who were directly affected. Will Fetters managed to do this brilliantly.
Remember Me will always be about September 11th 2001 and a testament to those who died that faithful sunny September morning. I hope that one day, the critics will come to realize it.
Thinking of Rob 