Comments by actress Maggie Gyllenhaal. at the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of "A Great New Wonderful," a film about New York after September 11th, have caused a bit of buzz here in New York City, according to the local daily paper, Newsday. Arriving for Friday's showting, Gyllenhaal told NY1 television that the United States bears some responsibility for the 9/11 attacks. A web poll posted on the paper's website indicated that more than 42% of those polled agree with her, while nearly 30% of those polled disagree with her and feel that she should apologize. Others either said they disagree but she has a right to her opinion (15%), the incident is blown out of proportion (10.5%) or they have no opinon (2%).

According to a statement published by Newsday, from Gyllenhall:

" 9/11 was a terrible tragedy and of course it goes without saying that I grieve along with every American for everyone who suffered and everyone who died in the catastrophe. But for those of us who were spared, it was also an occasion to be brave enough to ask some serious questions about America's role in the world. Because it is always useful, as individuals or nations to ask how we may have knowingly or unknowingly contributed to this conflict. Not to have the courage to ask these questions of ourselves is to betray the victims of 9/11."

It's not so much her original comments that bothered me, but the fact she refused to apologize for any pain she caused.

While there may be some validity to the concept that The United States either knowingly or unknowingly contributed to this conflict, the weight of any such validity is but a feather in comparison to the almost unmeasurable weight of that most cowardly and evil carnage inflicted by the terrorists behind the 9/11 attacks on the United States.
Let us be realistic about the entire Middle East situation: we maintain a presence there, militarily or otherwise, to insure that we get the oil we and other nations of the "free world" need, all the while under the guise of an attempt to maintain/foster peace. There has not been peace in the Middle East for thousands of years which seems to indicate that peace is not in the offing in the near or distant future. History should have taught us by now that almost all wars are started, maintained, and forcasted for the future as a result of some religious conflict. This will almost certainly be our destiny until we can park our religious assertions for the sake of all mankind.

finally somebody other than Noam Chomsky speaks the truth.

I TOTALLY AGREE with Maggie Gyllenhaal, and wish people would be more aware of how the rest of the world views the polices and the people within the US government. This is no ways takes away from the bravery and courage of the police, the fire fighters, and all those families who have lost loved ones. My statement has only to do with the fact that i think the US government is run by thugs, and I wish Americans would really wake up to the hatred around the world, for US policies.

Good for her. Although why some b level actress is suddenly spotlighted for her comments is perplexing to me. Already, people all over the world, including American men and women of diverse backgrounds, working, intellectual, immigrant, unemployed, whatever... have already made similiar thoughts known. On a different note, our president has taken us to war, yet he finds time to take a vacation? Will some easy living, in fear, entitled Republican please explain to all of us how this guy deserves a break?

This young woman deserves the strongest, sharpest rebuke possible, not just by filmgoers - i.e., don't go to see the wretched piece of work -- but especially by those of us who were most directly affected by the terror attacks.

I lived 4 blocks from WTC and lost my home that day, and was fortunate that I did not lose my life. Remarks such as hers are an insult to the memory of the American martyrs of that day, and as one who lives daily with the aftermath, I am disgusted, not only with her remarks, but with the lack of response to those vile sentiments by the organizers of the Festival.

Those of us who survived that day and who live with its consequences especially have the duty to express our revulsion and disgust with this woman's unlettered, ill-informed, and grossly insensitive statements to the Festival, and to demand an apology from Ms. Gyllenhaal, from the producers and creators of the movie at issue, and from the Festival for not immediately distancing itself from this individual.

Ms. Gyllenhaal has issued a statement that compounds her error and adds insult to injury. As a survivor of 9/11, I am incredulous at the studied intransigence of this immature young girl, and I urge those of you who share my outrage to visit nytimes.com/movies and post to that forum, as well as your favorite Weblogs - and in addition, call the New York City Council and urge them to continue the pressure they have applied to Ms. Gyllenhaal's orginization for her to issue a true apology, rather than the mealy-mouthed, insincere nonsense she has already inflicted upon us.

It is important to remember that freedom of speech does _not_ mean freedom from the _consequences_ of one's free speech. If a public figure makes public (and inflammatory) comments in a public forum, it is not undemocratic to expect that those comments will engender a wide range of freely expressed responses. Her intemperate remarks have served only to increase the suffering of those of us directly affected by the terror attacks, and her arrogant refusal to apologize for the damage her remarks have caused reflects poorly on her, her colleagues, and the TriBeCa Film Festival - an event born from a desire to bring life and hope back to my devastated neighborhood of Lower Manhattan.

So what are the consequences of her free speech Joseph Smith? Basically all she did was try to enlighten people like you who are blinded by the true nature of the reasons for 911

The consequences I suppose are boycotts of her movies.

What galls me is the implication that somehow those 3000+ people, not all Americans, deserved it. That, and her flippant dismissal of the anguish of "those poor New Yorkers".

I was offended by her comments, obviously you were not. You have your opinion, I have mine. That diminishes neither of us.

I don't think that her comments should be enough to keep people from going to see the movie. Think about films like "Gigi," where the main character and narrator was anti-semitic - but that did not stop it from winning a bunch of awards or from being a great film. I say that as a Jewish person, and one who both enjoys movies like "Gigi" for the fact that its comprised of more than just one stupid man, and "A Great New Wonderful" which I previewed last Friday and was a spectular film that resonated with some real truths about the world since 9/11 without ever mentioning it.

As for what she said in general - its her own opinion, and one that many Americans share. Certainly there are enough people out there who don't agree with her, but I don't think its worth yanking her over the coals. Free speech is something Americans cherish, and this woman is not an elected official. I think those of you who are upset should let it go.

The U.S. is easiest the biggest and worst terrorist state in the world today, if we apply the U.S. State Department's own definition: the use or threat of violence to achieve political ends.

We still have a fairly decent and open civil society here (though clearly under attack by the religious right) but that doesn't excuse a murderous foreign policy, of which most Americans are entirely ignorant. The fact that we threaten and/or attack other countries (for such noble purposes as the establishment of "free markets") and congratulate ourselves for it is one measure of the success of the propaganda machine.

9/11 is something which has been experienced on a far deadlier scale in many other countries. We're talking about millions, not thousands of civilian casualties. Just ask a Vietnamese, a Central American, or a Palestinian. Then ask them what role the U.S. of A played it.

Maggie is entitled to her free speech - she can say whatever she wants, whenever she wants - to whoever she pleases.

And so do I.
Irregardless of how our goverment deals with the world - that is NO reason for innocent people to die, and for heroes having to risk and/or lose their lives. If Maggie really feels that the death of these people were in ANY way warranted and yet honestly - at the same time - has grief towards the situation, perhaps she should grow up and learn to pick and choose her words more carefully, so she wont have to apologize for them in the future.

If it's wrong to point out that the U.S. bears some responsibility for attacks against it -- that our actions have consequences, for us and for people all around the world -- then we might as well give up on any mature political discussion.

You'll also be happy to know that under the U.S.'s own rules of engagement, the Twin Towers were legitimate military targets. How could that be? Because we freely bomb mixed use civilian/military installations in other countries such as Iraq, and call the civilian casualties "collateral damage".

The CIA had offices in the Towers. So, according to our own policy, the Towers were legitimate military targets. This doesn't make it right, but Al Queda was using the same measure we use.

When are you people going to learn how your own miserable country works? And if you're so compassionate, and so deeply stirred by civilian casualties, how much of your income are you sending to Iraqi civilians injured by our bombs and bullets?

I do not understand why stating the obvious point that the US carries some responsibility for what happened on 9/11 turns into a statement that the people who died in the towers deserved to die. In fact, her statement continues and makes the important point that it actually betrays the victims and their families if we -- as a country -- do not try to understand that the way America has been stomping around the world the last couple decades contributed to events of that day.

But did the people in the Towers deserve to die? Of course not. Did the people we dropped the Bomb on in Hiroshima deserve to die? No. The villagers we Napalmed in Vietnam? No. The 100,000 Iraqis we've killed over the last year? No. But they have. And there is blood on our hands for all of it.

You do the dead of 9/11 a disservice by remaining wilfully ignorant about the policies of your own country.

Have you studied American history? Do you actually know how this country behaves in the world? Have you ever talked to a "foreigner" with any experience of the matter?

The problem isn't Americans who blame America first, but rather Americans who never blame America for anything, no matter how vile, because they know nothing about this country or its policies.

Loving your country does not mean loving its foreign policy or its President. You're probably not old enough to remember the Vietnam era. Those of us who do, know that "patriotic" acceptance of government assertions is a death warrant for millions, not 2,900.

I am writing from Australia and I find reading your comments about Maggie both heartening and disheartening at the same time.

It amazes me that US citizens do not realise how ridiculed and despised the international actions of the US Government are by ordinary people around the round.

The chant "what we do, we do for the good of the free world" and the role the US government takes on the political stage of "world policeman" is a tired one. Not only is it outmoded but it is also insulting in the way it blindly suggests that rolling in the Stars & Stripes will fix politicial problems around the world.

It is insulting that the US Government champions itself as the leader of the free world where daily its own citizens suffer oppression and violence of a level unheard of in many, if not most, other countries around the world. This is not to mention the oppression and degradation it inflicts on those lesser souls who do not have the joy of a US passport.

My perception of US politics and the people of the US who are victims (yes victims) of US politicians is quite simple: your government spends a hell of a lot of time trying to prove to you that the rest of the world is evil so that, by comparison, you think the US is a haven of freedom (personal and economic) and of safety. I can tell you now, if it takes declaring war on a desolated country (and lets pick one from the many examples: Iraq? Afghanistan? Nicaragua?) to make you lot feel a little safer, there must be a hell of a lot of monsters hiding under your beds, in your cupboards, on your streets..

As for 9/11: hardly a soul around the world was untouched by that awful disaster, and my heart breaks again just think of it again. Under no circumstances should innocent people ever suffer or die at the hand of politics.

However, and here is where this blog is heartening, the moment that the US people stop and reflect on WHY the terrorists attacked your country, and demand that your government provide real answers to what the US government had done (or was perceived to have done) to warrant this attack, is the moment that you will move a step closer to stopping another attack.

If you don't ask these questions? If you don't demand answers as to what started all this in the first place? You (and we Australian citizens who, through our idiotic government, support US politics carte blanche) will remain sitting duck targets for another terrorist attack.

Well, She absolutely has a right to her opinion and she is completely within her rights to question America's foreign policiies in the Mideast. However her charactarization of 9/11 as a "catastrophe" and a tradgedy" is utterly contemptible. This was not a Tsunami or an Earthquake, or some other catastrophic natural disaster that could not be avoided! This was an attack conceived and executed by murderers. It would be nice if Maggie questioned Al Queda's policies and responsiblity as vociferously as she does America's. Should murderers and criminals be exempt from punishment because they have real or imagined grievances with America's policies? Was that the only choice Al Queda had to get their message of Islamic Fascism heard?

I think that Kate is right about one thing - we have to keep asking questions, even if we agree with many of the choices our government.

The headline in the Daily News was: Actress: 9/11 Our Fault, or words to that effect. This kind of reprehensible distortion, apparently aimed at scaring people into withholding their perfectly reasonable but easily misunderstood and unpopular points of view, seems to be the role of our "free" press these days, so they are more than partly to blame for way this country's headed. A few days later, the News printed a letter from some moron suggesting that someone spit a wad of tobacco juice at the girl. So much for the free exchange of ideas.

Reading comprehension is apparently at an all-time low. No one is saying those people in the Twin Towers deserved to die, and if Americans, even actresses, don't have the right to ask questions about our foreign policy, its goals, and its effect on the world, then we're betraying the ideals we claim to hold sacred, yet again.

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