God bless, Spike Lee, seriously. And 3/4ths of this “‘NYC Epicenters 9/11➔2021½’” HBO documentary is pretty incredible. Though, in the words of Lee himself, one smells some troubling skullduggery and bamboozling. “NYC Epicenters” is a tribute to New York’s resilience and looks at the way New York has been a target over the years (9/11, the World Trade Center bombing in 1993), and epicenter to much pain and suffering (the COVID-19 pandemic that rocked New York in the Spring of 2020 and how the Black Lives Matters protest inflamed from that event). For his latest docuseries from HBO, the press was only given Episodes 1 through 3 initially to review (common practice for TV series, honestly) and the fourth and final episode was made available about a week after.
But as the New York Times recently pointed out, Episode 4 shows interviews with several members of the conspiracy group Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth. Asked why he highlighted their perspective, Lee answered, “Because I still don’t … I mean, I got questions. And I hope that maybe the legacy of this documentary is that Congress holds a hearing, a congressional hearing about 9/11.”
Pressed more about it, Lee deflected, here’s part of. the exchange after Lee said, “My approach is put the information in the movie and let people decide for themselves:”
Interviewer: Right, but you don’t say “make up your own mind” about whether or not the vaccine is poison, or “make up your own mind” about whether Joe Biden was legitimately elected.
Lee: People are going to think what they think, regardless. I’m not dancing around your question. People are going to think what they think.
Now, Episode 4 has been pulled from HBO screening room. I personally watched the entire thing last night and while I loved ‘NYC Epicenters,’ I was deeply troubled by what I saw; Lee giving about 30 minutes of doc time to a back and forth with civil engineers who believe the Towers fell due to structural problems due to jet fuel, fire and the growing calamity in the towers and Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, who believe something else, though aren’t ever really willing to say what other than, they don’t believe the official story.
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At one point, an engineer asks Spike (paraphrasing, not an exact quote), “Does that clarify things to you? and Lee says, “Not really,” seemingly throwing in his editorial lot with the doubt and skepticism of the Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth and echoing his own comments in the NY Times interview.
Now, with growing concern and criticism in the media (THR, NY Post, Slate, LA Times), and social media, Lee is re-cutting the film and asking audiences to withhold judgment until the final cut. A statement from HBO:
I’m Back In The Editing Room And Looking At The Eighth And Final Chapter Of NYC EPICENTERS 9/11➔2021½ . I Respectfully Ask You To Hold Your Judgement Until You See The FINAL CUT.
I Thank You,
Spike Lee
Going back into the editing room after furor is mounting feels suspect and dubious honestly, and one has to wonder if Lee is caving to pressure and or just wants out of the controversy? We’ll have to wait and see what the “final cut” is, but the screeners are now completely gone from HBO’s screening room and were available for about a week. We’ll have to see how this unfolds.
